Rise and Shine
by shiki94
Summary: When Candice Michelle had to move with her parents to North Carolina, she starts at a new school and meets many interesting friends. Out of all of them, one stands out. What is it about this friend that Candice needs to know? And could it be that the same friend needs to be saved from herself? Candice Michelle/OC friendship, later Cody Rhodes/OC & Candice Michelle/CM Punk
1. New School, New Day

**I've been bitten by the high school fic bug and I really wanted to take a chance and write one for myself. The Alex I am using in this story is the same Alex in my other story, _How to Sweep a Geek Off Her Feet. _She is my own OC.**

Candice Michelle still couldn't wrap her head around why, out of all the places in the US her parents could've moved to, they had to move to some crowded city in North Carolina. Despite what her parents kept telling her, she knew she wouldn't like Raleigh mainly because she had to leave her friends in Milwaukee right before she began her junior year of high school. But being the person with a positive outlook like her, she tried to just think about all of the good things that could come from the move. However, when none came to mind, she began to decorate her room in her family's new house. After spending 30 minutes, she decided to go downstairs and found her mom and dad talking to who she assumed was one of their neighbors.

"Oh Candice honey. Come over. We want you to meet one of our neighbors. Candice, this is Gilbert Hardy. He has three children of his own that will be going to Union Pines High with you." Candice's mom said, making the introductions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Candice." Gilbert said, shaking her hand.

"Likewise." Candice said smiling.

"You seem like a nice young lady. I'm sure my sons and my daughter will enjoy meeting you. Don't worry about trying to find them at the school once you start. They stand out so well, you'll know them immediately." Gilbert said smiling.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them." Candice said laughing.

"Good to hear it. Well, it was very nice meeting you all. I suppose it's time for me to head home to my own three before they go crazy without me. And Candice, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to let my kids know. They'll be more than happy to assist." Gilbert said, messing up Candice's hair playfully, earning a laugh and smile from her.

Once Gilbert left, Candice's parents decided it was time to try to find something to eat for dinner. Candice had suggested getting Chinese take-out and after they got their food and ate, Candice decided to go upstairs to her room and get some sleep to prepare for her first day at school in the morning. 'Good news is that I'll be starting at the beginning of a new year. Bad news is that I'll be all alone.' Candice thought. Without even realizing it, she soon drifted off into a dream about being back home in Milwaukee for the holidays.

* * *

"Candice honey wake up. It's time to get ready for the new year." Candice's mom said rather excitedly.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Thanks for the wake-up call mom. I'll be down once I finish." Candice said, sitting up in bed and stretching.

"OK honey. I'll go get your younger brother and sister up and get them ready for preschool." Candice's mom said, leaving her room.

Once Candice was out of bed, she walked over to her closet to try to find something to wear for her first day at her new school. She eventually decided on a shirt that said 'Haters Motivate Me', a pair of skinny jeans, and her high-top black Converses. After a few minutes of playing with her hair, she decided to clip her bangs away from her eyes and slightly curl her hair. She then decided to put on her makeup after washing her face. When she finished getting ready, she ran downstairs to get something to eat for breakfast. She told her dad good morning and then ate a bowl of cereal. After she finished, she put her dishes in the sink, got her phone, book bag, and purse, told her parents and younger siblings goodbye and then left to get in her car and drive to school. On the drive to Union Pines, she decided to play some Sleeping With Sirens songs to pass the time until she made it to the campus.

Arriving at the campus, Candice felt a little nervous as she parked her car and got out. She just looked around at the yard and noticed that there were students already meeting up with friends from last year and going in the big school building together. Sighing, she walked towards the building and through the doors leading to her new school. When she got inside, the sheer size of the building and the number of students had her in shock. 'Maybe if I'm lucky, no one will pay attention to the new kid.' Candice thought. However as soon as she thought that, people started to stare at her and whisper trying to find out who the new kid was. When she turned around a corner, she immediately collided with another student.

"Oww. Can't you watch where you're going?" Candice asked angrily.

"I'm really sorry. I really am." said the mystery student nervously.

When Candice looked up, she saw that the person she ran into couldn't have been any older than being a freshman. The freshman was wearing a Blood on the Dance Floor t-shirt, a black and red plaid skirt, black high-top Converses, and black and red striped arm warmers. An inspection of the freshman's face showed that she was wearing glasses and had her bangs covering her eyes. The freshman's hair was also noticeably dyed with streaks of red and pink.

"Do you need some help picking up your things?" Candice said, immediately forgetting their prior collision.

"It's fine. I can get it all." said the mystery student, quickly putting her things in her backpack.

"Ok. Say if you don't mind me asking, why were you going so fast through the halls anyways?" Candice asked.

"It wasn't my fault. My friends AJ and Kaitlyn saw you coming and shoved me forward so that I'd actually make a move to talk to you." said the mystery student.

"Why would your friends shove-"

"Alex! There you are!" said two mystery voices.

Candice snapped her head up to see two girls who she assumed were freshmen too. One of the girls had dark brown hair, had glasses, and was wearing a t-shirt that had the Sailor Scouts on it, skinny jeans, and black high-top Converses. The other girl was taller and had blonde hair with black streaks and was wearing an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, ripped jeans, and a pair of black and red Vans.

"AJ, Kaitlyn! That was very mean of what you two did! You can't just go around shoving me into new students." Alex whined.

This had Candice laughing and suddenly she realized that neither of the three girls introduced themselves to her.

"Umm….I should probably introduce myself. I'm Candice Michelle Beckman, but you guys can call me Candice." Candice said.

"Nice to meet you Candice. I'm Kaitlyn, and this is AJ and you've already met Alex Her real name is Alexis, but we all just like to call her Alex." Kaitlyn said, shaking Candice's hand.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you. Not everyday new students come to UPHS." AJ said, shaking Candice's hand after Kaitlyn.

Alex just smiled politely before saying, "Wait. I just remembered something. You're the student I have to help."

"Huh? What do you mean Alex?" Candice said, confused.

"Umm….Well, it's something that certain students have to do, they have to help new students get acquainted with the school. It's only for two weeks though." Alex said while twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"Oh OK. Well, do you think you could show me to the office? I have to go get my schedule." Candice asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah. AJ, Kaitlyn, I'll see you both in Mr. Cole's class, OK?" Alex said.

"OK. We'll see you then. Bye Candice. It was awesome meeting you." Kaitlyn and AJ said.

After leaving them behind, Alex and Candice walked to the main office in silence.

"So Candice, how do you like being in Raleigh?" Alex asked.

"It's fine. It's a bit of a leap from Milwaukee, that's for sure." Candice said smiling down at the awkward young freshman.

"Th-that's cool." Alex said nervously. "Oh, here's the office."

Stepping into the office, Candice was surprised to see that the office was big. There were different rooms for the principal, vice principal, guidance counselors, and on-campus police officers.

"Morning Granny Mae." Alex said, walking towards the woman that was sitting behind the main desk.

"Oh good morning Alex dear. I'm so glad that you finally started school here." the older woman sitting at the computer said.

"I am too. I'm here with the new student Mr. McMahon assigned to me. Granny Mae, this is Candice Beckman. Candice, this is the school receptionist Mae Young, but lots of people call her Granny Mae." Alex said, introducing the two.

"It's very nice to meet you Candice and welcome to Union Pines High. If you ever need anything, just come here and you can either talk with me or your guidance counselor." Granny Mae said, handing Candice her schedule.

"Thanks and I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Candice said, smiling and taking her schedule.

"OK. Now I think you two should be headed to class. You wouldn't want to be late on you first day now, would you?" Granny Mae asked, grinning.

"We're leaving now. I'll see you around Granny Mae." Alex said hugging Granny Mae before leaving with Candice.

Once they left the office, Candice looked at her schedule and saw that she had six classes every day.

"So Candice, what's your first period class?" Alex asked.

"Um….World History with Mr. Cole. What about you Alex?" Candice asked.

"Same class. It's good you have that class with me and AJ and Kaitlyn. Mr. Cole can be a bit of a douche." Alex said.

Hearing Alex say this caused Candice to laugh as they walked to class. The whole time they were headed to History with Mr. Cole Candice couldn't help but be proud of herself that she made new friends on her first day. Now all she had to do was get through her day without any trouble.

**Read and review. Candice has officially been introduced to three interesting students and a very nice receptionist. So far her first day at her new school is going well. Now all she has to do is survive the rest of her day. But will things go smoothly or will there be some bumps? Stay tuned for Chapter 2. =)**


	2. First Half of the Day

By the time Candice and Alex got to Mr. Cole's class, the bell had rung and class was beginning. When they walked through the door, all eyes in the room were on them as they came in.

"New year and you're already being tardy, Hardy?" snapped Mr. Cole.

"I-I'm really sorry Mr. Cole, b-but I was helping Candice here make her way to class. I'll go to my seat now." Alex said, stammering.

"So you're the new student to join my class? Well, come to the front of the room and introduce yourself to the class." Mr. Cole said.

Sighing, Candice walked to the front of the room.

"Well, for starters, my name is Candice Beckman. I moved here from Milwaukee over the summer. And, I like singing as a hobby. That's me in a nutshell. If you want to know more, just ask." Candice said.

"OK. Now that we've taken of introductions, Candice go sit in the desk next to Alexis in the back." Mr. Cole said.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Candice went to go sit beside her new friend.

"That's some luck. Mr. Cole put you back here with me and my other friends." Alex said smiling.

"Yeah. I couldn't imagine what would happen if I was anywhere else in the room." Candice said smiling back, causing Alex to blush slightly.

"Candice! Welcome to the dark side." Kaitlyn said in a spooky voice.

AJ laughed. "Yeah. Like Kaitlyn said, welcome to the 'dark side', so to speak."

"Guys, we're being rude. Candice, we have two other friends in here with us too." Alex said. Motioning to her left, Alex said, "Candice, these are two of our other best friends. John, Melina, this is Candice."

"Hey Candice. Nice to meet you. I'm Melina, like Alex just said." Melina said smiling.

"And I'm John, but some of my friends call me JoMo." John said smiling as well.

"Nice to meet you guys t-"

"Quiet down in the back you six! Don't make me separate you already!" Mr. Cole snapped.

"Sorry Mr. Cole!" chorused the six friends.

"What's his deal?" Candice whispered.

"It's just the 'Mr. Cole curse'. We have no clue why, but he just doesn't seem to like us or anyone else in our group of friends. Maybe it's because we're not afraid to be different and fun, while he's a stick in the mud." Kaitlyn shrugged.

"Oh. Reminds me of one of my teachers back in Milwaukee that would snap on me and my old friends for talking about anime during class." Candice said.

Before Candice knew it, she had five pairs of eyes on her.

"What is it guys? Was it something I said?" Candice asked mildly confused.

"Umm, it's just…well…it isn't that often that people actually admit to liking anime and other stuff like it openly. Most people think it's pervy trash, so most fans of the stuff hide their love of it." Alex said.

"I can already tell you're going to fit in nicely with everyone else in our circle Candice." Melina said laughing.

"Totally. As long as you don't say the main serieses you like are ones like Naruto and Vampire Knight. Seems like everyone is into those animes." John said.

Smiling and laughing, Candice talked the rest of the period with her newly made friends until the bell began to ring signaling the end of first period.

"So Candice, what's your next class?" Melina asked.

"Umm, next I have English with Mr. Adamle and then my third period is Aerobics with Ms. Saeed." Candice said.

"Awesome. We have the same class together next. You have third period same time Alex and John do, so that's cool too." Melina said smiling.

"Yeah. I guess it is. Maybe you could show me how to get to Mr. Adamle's class." Candice said.

"Sure thing. See you guys at lunch. Bye JoMo." Melina said, kissing John.

"See you at lunch Melina." Alex, AJ, John, and Kaitlyn said.

* * *

When Melina and Candice walked into Mr. Adamle's class, Candice had to do the same thing she did in Mr. Cole's class.

"Now, Ms. Beckman, take the seat between Melina and Michelle." Mr. Adamle said, pointing to Candice's new seat.

When Candice sat down, she smiled over at Melina, but at the same time, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, she looked over to see that the person trying to get her attention was a girl with long blonde hair. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and a pair of heels.

"Hi. My name is Michelle. Welcome to Union Pines, Candice. What are you doing being friends with the freak to your left?" Michelle asked.

Melina frowned in Michelle's general direction and flipped her off.

'Freak? Does she mean Melina?' Candice kept thinking while English went on. By the time the bell rang to end second period, Melina leaped up from her seat, grabbed Candice by the arm and pulled her out of the classroom.

"What the hell was that all about in there? Why was Michelle calling you a freak?" Candice asked Melina.

"Because…OK. Believe it or not, Michelle used to be a member of our circle. But then when we started middle school, she started to turn into a class A hormonal bitch. Ever since sixth grade, she's been acting like a bitch towards me and John and AJ and Kaitlyn and Alex and everyone else." Melina spat out angrily.

Hearing Melina say this made Candice curious, but also a little mad at the same time. But she decided she would ask about it later.

"Hey Melina. Do you think you could show me where the gym is? I have to get there for Aerobics next?" Candice asked breaking the silence.

"Sure. I don't really have a third period next, so I'll probably sit in the bleachers." Melina said.

* * *

Once Candice and Melina got in the gymnasium, Alex and John were already with their class. John saw Candice and waved her over and Melina took a seat in the bleachers after telling Ms. Saeed she was just there to watch.

"Hey John, hey Alex." Candice said, when she made her way over to her friends.

"Hi Candice." John and Alex said at the same time.

Ms. Saeed called for the class to be quiet and after spending 30 minutes talking about what they were going to be doing in Aerobics, the class spent the rest of their day talking amongst themselves.

"So Candice, how'd you enjoy Adamle's class?" John asked.

"It was fine, until some motormouth blonde started talking to me and called Melina a freak." Candice said.

"Who's the blonde, babe?" John asked Melina.

"That bitch Michelle McCool. She called me 'freak', even though I was near her, and then she had the nerve to try to talk to Candice like nothing happened." Melina said, fuming.

Hearing Melina mention Michelle made Alex go slightly pale. No one noticed it until Candice looked over and saw her.

"Alex. Are you okay?" Candice asked worriedly.

Hearing Candice snapped Alex out of her thoughts. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I was…uh…just thinking about something. No big deal." Alex said smiling.

Candice was about to ask Alex if she was really feeling fine, but she was interrupted by the bell dismissing their class to lunch.

"Finally! Now we can go eat at last!" John said.

"Babe, if you eat any more, you're gonna swell up like a ballon." Melina laughed. "You want to come with us Candice? You can meet all of our other friends too."

"Sure thing. Let's go." Candice said smiling. She quickly put away any thoughts she had of questioning Alex further away at the prospect of making more friends. All Candice hoped for now was making a good impression on her future friends.

**Candice's day seems to be going well. She's already made two more friends, but unfortunately, she's also encountered her first enemy as well. What will happen when she meets the rest of Alex's friends? Stay tuned for Chapter 3. =)**


	3. A Lunchtime Meltdown

When the group of four finally arrived at the cafeteria, Candice hesitated to go inside. She just kept thinking that Alex's friends would reject her upon taking one look at her.

Looking behind her, Alex saw Candice standing, deep in thought.

"Candice, are you feeling OK?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. I'm just nervous Alex. What if your friends don't like me?" Candice said nervously.

"As awesome a person you are, my friends will warm up to you in a heartbeat. Trust me." Alex said smiling up at Candice.

Taking a deep breath, Candice nodded and followed her new friends into the cafeteria. After going through the line and getting their food, the group of four made their way over a table surrounded by Kaitlyn, AJ, and several other students having an argument about, from what Candice could hear, who would be a better boyfriend for Katniss from the Hunger Games between Gale and Peeta.

"Come on Kait. How can you even say Gale would better after Peeta suffered through the Games with Katniss?" asked a boy with red and purple streaks in his hair.

"Because Gale has known Katniss longer. Plus, the one time before the Games they had any interaction, Peeta just treated Katniss like an animal." Kaitlyn huffed.

"Can't this wait until we're out of school guys? Last time you two got to arguing, we had detention for two months?" moaned an older boy with long brown hair.

"Hey look. It's the Three Musketeers." said a girl with red hair, pointing at John, Melina, and Alex.

"Hey guys. Umm, this is my new friend and my first charge for the school year. Everyone, this is Candice. Candice, brace yourself for a long series of introductions. Candice, these are my older brothers Matt and Jeff, their girlfriends Amy and Maria, Ashley, Trish, her boyfriend Chris, you already know AJ and Kaitlyn, Daniel, Derrick, Evan, Phil, but we all call him Punk, and Mickie." Alex said, motioning to everyone while making the needed introductions.

"It's a pleasure to meet everyone." Candice said smiling and laughing.

"It's awesome to meet you too. Me and Jeff almost thought Kaitlyn was making it up when she said that her and AJ and Alex managed to make friends with the prime new kid." Mickie said smiling.

"Yeah. Welcome to UPHS. Our dad told us about meeting you, so just know that we're always here to help if you need it." Matt said, sending Candice a warm smile.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Candice said, returning the smile.

Just when it seemed like Candice was having fun with her new friends, she suddenly felt someone come up behind her. When she turned around, she saw that it was Michelle, another blonde girl, and a girl with tan skin.

"Candice. Oh thank god I found you. Come with me if you don't want to get infected by these freaks." Michelle said, sneering at the circle.

"Freaks? Like you have room to talk McCool! At least we're comfortable with who we are. Unlike some people that so rudely graced us with their presence." Amy said angrily.

"Well, duh, you all are a pack of freaks. I mean, you have a guy who dyes his hair, one who thinks he's some huge rockstar, one who has way too many tattoos, one that's too lovey dovey for his own good, two crazy chicks with red hair, a sane chick who'd rather slum it with freaks, a punk rock reject bitch, a vegan creep, a hottie who eats like a cow, his magnet, a bitch that actually is a cow, four insanely hyper geeks, and last but not a mousy little retard who seems to never be able to say anything so that people aside from the freaks around her can understand not to mention she always wears the most hideous clothes and she has her bangs forever covering her eyes. If anything Candice, we're doing you a favor." Michelle spat. "So are you coming with us or not?"

"The answer is a big fat NO. I'd rather be here with my new friends than go anywhere with you hateful sluts. Now I suggest you three leave or there will be consequences." Candice said angrily.

Hearing the raw anger in Candice's voice made Michelle and her two friends flinch. "Fine, but don't say we didn't try to warn you. When the freaks drag you down with them, just remember: We tried to help you." Michelle said, leaving with her friends in tow.

When Candice sat back down, she noticed that mostly everyone's eyes were on her and Alex.

"Wow. That was unexpected." Jeff said. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you've had your fair share of bullies too."

"Yeah. I just can't believe her nerve though. How could she say that about you guys? You guys are all awesome." Candice said.

"Try telling her that. If anyone shows the slightest trace of wanting to be different, Michelle hops on them and harasses them until they are disgraced. It's happened too many times." Amy said, anger evident on her face.

Candice was about to say something else when she was interrupted by someone crying. When she looked around, she saw that Ashley, Maria, AJ, and Jeff all went to console Alex.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Candice asked, concern etched on her face.

All Alex could do was shake her head no before burying her head into Jeff's shirt. While Jeff rubbed his sister's back and tried to cheer her up, everyone at the table started to get upset and try to console Alex too.

"Is Alex going to be alright?" Candice asked Mickie.

"Yeah, but it may take a while. You see, Alex is a bit more sensitive to being teased and picked on than the rest of us. None of us know why, but she seems to be the glutton for everyone's punishment. It breaks my heart to see her like this though. She's the youngest in our group and she's so sensitive. I just want to take away her pain. Me and everyone else does too." Mickie said, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Seeing her new friends like this after trying to console the youngest in the group made Candice upset. 'How could they be so mean? If only there was a way to make them hurt like they make my friends hurt.' Candice thought. Any thoughts of payback she had were immediately squashed by the bell ringing, signaling the end of lunch. Whatever she thought of quickly vanished. But what she did know was that she was going to help Alex. The big question though is how was she going to help her.

**Read and review. Meeting the rest of Alex's friends should've been easy, but thanks to Michelle, things went downhill fast. Michelle pretty much dissed all of Candice's new friends, Candice told Michelle off, and Alex had an emotional breakdown. How will the rest of Candice's first day go? Will it get better or worse? And will Alex get over her breakdown? Stay tuned for chapter 4. =)**


	4. Chorus and Art

By the time Candice got to the fourth period class she had with Amy, Ashley, and Chris, class had just barely started. Her fourth period just so happened to be Chorus with Mrs. Garcia, who was also one of the guidance counselors. When Candice came in, Mrs. Garcia didn't make Candice introduce herself. Instead she had to do something entirely different.

"You want me to sing in front of the class?" Candice asked.

"Yes. It's just to help me determine if you really seem fit to be in this class. Don't worry. Just sing something for a minute and a half, and then you may take your seat." Mrs. Garcia said.

Exhaling, Candice made her way to the front of the class, she thought about different songs until she thought of the perfect song that described how she was feeling at that moment.

"So Candice, what are you going to sing?" Mrs. Garcia asked.

"I'm going to sing a few lines from one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, Sleeping With Sirens. The song I'll be singing from is 'If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn." Candice said.

"OK. Nice song. Just begin whenever you feel like it." Mrs. Garcia said smiling.

Taking a deep breath, Candice began to sing:

_Stay for tonight  
If you want to  
I can show you  
What my dreams are made of,  
as I'm dreaming of your face  
I've been away for a long time  
Such a long time  
And I miss you there  
I can't imagine being anywhere else  
I can't imagine being anywhere else but here_

_How the hell did you ever pick me?_  
_Honestly, I could sing you a song_  
_But I don't think words can express your beauty_  
_It's singing to me_  
_How the hell did we end up like this?_  
_You bring out the beast in me_  
_I fell in love from the moment we kissed_  
_Since then we've been history_

_They say that love is forever_  
_Your forever is all that I need_  
_Please stay as long as you need_  
_Can't promise that things won't be broken_  
_But I swear that I will never leave_  
_Please stay forever with me_

When Candice stopped, she looked around at the class and Mrs. Garcia, and soon after, her friends broke into applause and the rest of the class followed suit along with Mrs. Garcia.

"That was excellent Candice. I can tell that Chorus will be a good fit for you." Mrs. Garcia said smiling and applauding. "You can go sit down now."

When Candice sat down with her friends, she was immediately flooded with congratulations.

"Wow Candice. Who would've guessed that you would've sang a Sleeping With Sirens song so wonderfully." Ashley said.

"Thanks. It's just one of those songs you can listen to when you're going through a rough patch in your life. It's one of the songs that's helped me deal with bullies and other shit in my life." Candice said smiling at her friends.

The rest of the class was spent discussing upcoming performances and trying to get students to join the school chorus. When the bell rang to signal the end of class, Candice reluctantly left one of the best classes she was having the whole day.

"So what's your next class Candice?" Amy asked.

"Hmm? Oh, I have a free period next. I think I might just go sit in the library and read the House of Night book that's burning a hole in my book bag. But before that, I have to find out who my counselor is. Just in case I may ever need help with something." Candice said.

"Aww. Lucky. I'd give anything to get out of having to be in Teen Living with Mrs. Kiebler." Chris moaned.

Everyone laughed and then went their separate ways. Candice was making her way through the halls, going to the main office when she was stopped by the sounds of what sounded like two people arguing.

"Can you believe the nerve of the new girl standing up for those freaks? Makes me sad to know that there are so many broken people in the world."

"I couldn't imagine why. It's not like she has anything in common with them. Especially the little four-eyed Hardy creep."

"Well, I know this much. If she even thinks about trying to cross us again, then she will go down."

After Candice heard all of this, she ran to the main office, ignoring people yelling at her to slow down. When she burst through the door, she saw that Granny Mae wasn't there. She didn't feel like waiting, so she decided to leave when she nearly collided with Mrs. Garcia.

"Oh my god! Mrs. Garcia, I'm so sorry!" Candice said helping Mrs. Garcia with her things.

"It's fine. I wasn't holding anything fragile so it's fine." Mrs. Garcia said reassuringly.

"Oh OK. Well, I'll just be leaving. I just wanted to find out who my counselor was, but Granny Mae isn't in, so I'll try again later." Candice said, leaving.

"Well, look no further. I'm your counselor so just come with me to my office." Mrs. Garcia said.

When Candice got to Mrs. Garcia's office, she saw that her Chorus teacher was way into music from all of the music photos and the dubstep music playing softly in the background. After they both went in the office, Candice closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair in front of Mrs. Garcia's desk.

"So what appears to be on your mind Candice?" Mrs. Garcia asked.

"Well, Mrs. Garcia-"

"Please, just call me Lillian while we're in here. Always being called Mrs. Garcia makes me feel older than I am." Mrs. Garcia said laughing.

"OK. Well, Lillian, me and some of my friends had a bit of an altercation with some bullies at lunch today. And after it was over, one of my friends started to cry. I wanted to do something, but I had no clue what to do. Do you think you could help me out with this?" Candice asked.

"Hmm. Well, any advice I could offer right now would be just to ignore it. Maybe the bullies will leave you alone if you show that what they do won't hurt you." Lillian said.

"That could work. I just can't believe that it's only been my first day and already people have singled me out as a target." Candice said. Checking the time on her phone showed that she only had five minutes left until her sixth period so she got up and left, but not before Lillian said she could come see her whenever she needed to. After leaving the office, she found Punk sitting outside the office.

"Punk? What are you doing here?" Candice asked.

"I didn't have a fifth period either so I decided to come sit out here before I headed to sixth period Art with Mr. Foley." Punk said.

"I have that class next too. Do you want to walk there together?" Candice asked.

"Sure thing. Let's head there now." Punk said, standing and looping his arm through Candice's as the bell rang.

By the time the two got to Art, they saw that they had class with Jeff, Maria, Kaitlyn, Alex, and Daniel.

"Hey guys." Candice said, smiling and waving at the small group.

"Hey yourself. Yay, you have Art with us too!" Kaitlyn said excitedly.

Candice and Punk took their seats with their friends and talked until Mr. Foley came in. After he took attendance and discussed what they were going to do in class, they had the rest of the day to do what they wanted, so the group of seven decided to draw a group picture until the bell rang signaling the end of the day. But when Candice looked up and looked over at Alex, she noticed that her young friend was smiling, but at the same time she looked a little pale as well. She wanted to ask if Alex was OK, but before she could, the bell rang and then everyone started to leave. She left the building with her new friends, who were excitedly talking about teachers they had for the year. When the time came to part ways and leave, she felt someone wrap their arms around her. When she looked around, she saw that Alex was the one hugging her.

"Thanks for standing up for us. I'll see you tomorrow." Alex said smiling up at Candice before dashing off to join Jeff, Maria, Matt, and Amy.

The whole time Candice drove home she was thinking of her new friends, Alex in particular. She didn't think much of how she was acting in Art, moreso she was thinking of how Alex looked. Her face was streaked black and she looked pale too. Candice had no clue how Alex went from being an emotional wreck to being a picture of happiness, but she wanted to find out soon.

**Read and review. It seems like Candice has enjoyed all of her classes. She made a huge splash in Chorus, has a free period, and had fun in Art. But after hearing people talk about her and Alex's mysterious 180 in Art, she's starting to get curious. What could've made Alex happy so fast? And will Candice be able to figure out what makes her young friend tick? Stay tuned for Chapter 5. =)**


	5. Alex Has a Secret

After the mild disaster that was Candice's first day of school, the rest of her week went on relatively peacefully. But the one thing that had her mildly unnerved was the fact that Michelle or any of her lackies decided to torment her and her friends. When Friday came around, she was preparing to leave when she was stopped by Punk on the way out of school.

"Hey Candice. I was wondering if I could ask you something." Punk said.

"Sure Punk. What is it?" Candice asked.

"Umm….I was just wondering….if you weren't too busy, if you'd like to go on a date with me some time. I know you've only been here a week, but I think I'm falling for you. So would you go out with me?" Punk asked, blushing slightly.

"Umm….Sure. Truth is, I'm actually starting to like you a little too, so anytime you want, I'd be happy to go out with you." Candice said, sending a wink in Punk's direction.

"Really? Awesome! Well, I'll see you Monday Candice." Punk said, speeding towards his car.

Candice was just standing there laughing at the awkwardness of her friend when she made it to her car. Driving home, she couldn't help but think about the surprising lack of torment that she had endured at the hands of Michelle McCool. When she got home, she went inside and said hi to her parents and put away her things in her room. She decided to go downstairs and play with her younger siblings when her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She opened her phone and saw that she had a text from Maria.

_'Heyy Candice. Me & some of the other girls were wondering if you wanted to have a girls night at Alex's tonight? Her dad gave us the OK & Matt and Jeff won't be here.'_

Reading over the text message, she immediately replied with a yes and started to celebrate that she was going to do something with her new friends. When her parents came home and Candice asked them, which they both said yes to, she packed a bag with enough clothing for a weekend stay, kissed her parents and brother and sister, and hopped in her car and left.

* * *

Driving up to Alex's house was something that Candice was shocked to be doing. She was amazed to see what looked like a dirt bike course in the backyard, a giant sculpture of a mummy, and several areas of disheveled grass. When she got out of her car, walked up to the door and knocked, she was immediately greeted by AJ and Maria.

"Yay! You made it!" AJ said excitedly.

"Come on in. We were just about to pick a movie to watch and we need a tiebreaker." Maria said, pulling Candice through the doorway.

As soon as Candice made it through the doorway and into the Hardys' living room, she was greeted be the sounds of arguing over whether to watch V For Vendetta or 28 Days Later. Since Candice was the tiebreaker, she decided that they would watch V For Vendetta first and then 28 Days Later. After 4 hours of watching movies and eating junk food, the girls decided it was time to get ready for bed. When Candice saw what Alex was sleeping in, she got mildly confused. Alex was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that had a logo for Suicide Silence, a pair of short shorts on, and her bangs were still covering her eyes.

"Thanks so much for coming to my sleepover." Alex said, smiling shyly at her new friend.

"No problem. I'm having lots of fun." Candice said, smiling back causing Alex to blush.

After staying up a few more hours, the girls eventually decided to call it a night and go to sleep. Waking up early the next morning, Candice looked around to notice everyone was still sleeping. So when she happened to notice Alex turning over in her sleep, she happened to see Alex's bangs move away from her face. Candice decided to push them out of her face so that she wouldn't be woken up by her hair tickling her nose. But as Candice did so, she saw something that slightly had her shocked and appalled. Moving Alex's hair completely away from her eyes, she noticed that Alex had scars on her forehead and over her eyes as well. She also happened to notice that Alex had some burns and bruises near her temples as well. Seeing such marks on her youngest friend made Candice feel queasy, so she ran to the bathroom and threw up.

'What the hell? Why does Alex have so many scars and bruises and burns on her face? Does anyone else know? Maybe I could ask someone once everyone else is up.' Candice thought.

Hearing footsteps on the other side of the door made Candice leap up from the bathroom floor and dashing to the sink to brush her teeth and clean her face. Once she finished, she dashed out of the bathroom, nearly colliding with with Amy and Trish.

"Whoa there Candice! Where's the fire?" Amy asked, laughing.

"Hey Candice, are you feeling OK? You look sick." Trish asked, concern apparent in her voice.

"Guys, is Alex awake yet?" Candice said, looking around.

"No. She's still asleep along with Mickie and Kaitlyn. Why do you ask? And why do you look so jumpy?" Amy said.

"OK….I'm not sure if you guys know this or not, but Alex has scars and bruises and burns on her face. Mostly on her forehead." Candice said, rushing to say what she had to before she started to look nauseous again.

After Candice said this, Amy and Trish both got pale. "Oh man. I can't believe you found out so soon." Amy said, looking down at the floor and drawing a line with one of her toes.

"Wait a minute. You guys all knew about Alex being like this? And you wouldn't tell me?" Candice asked, slightly irked.

"Candice, calm down. The reason why we didn't want to say anything was because it's not really our story to tell." Trish said. "We figured Alex would just tell you when she was ready to."

Hearing Amy and Trish tell her this made Candice angry but at the same time, she knew she was going to have let Alex tell her about what happened to her when she felt like it. Soon after, the other girls were up and headed downstairs to get breakfast. When Alex came down, Candice noticed that she had her bangs covering her face again. While the girls ate breakfast, Candice looked over at Alex and saw that she was having a conversation with Ashley about an upcoming concert they wanted to go to and how much money they had save up for it. Seeing Alex so happy made Candice instantly regret seeing what Alex hides under her bangs, but she kept being nagged by all of the thoughts she kept having about who would want to hurt Alex so badly. When she finally couldn't take it anymore, she leapt up from her seat, went over to Alex and yanked her out of her seat by her arm.

"Oww! Candice you're hurting me!" Alex shouted.

"And you're hurting me too Alex!" Candice shouted back.

Flinching, Alex said, "What do you mean? I haven't done anything to h-"

"Don't even say that lie! I saw what happened to your face! Now I know this is none of my business, but I have to know what happened to you. If not, I swear I will walk out that door right now and never look back." Candice said, tears running down her face.

Alex had tears streaming down her face at this point as well. "OK. Just put me down. I'll tell you, but it's a pretty long story." Alex said around a sob in her throat. "And none of it is pretty."

**Read and review. Now that Candice has seen what Alex hides under her bangs and she's about to learn why, is she prepared for what she'll hear? Stay tuned for chapter 6. =)**


	6. Learning Alex's Past

**I'm not even going to deny that this is probably one of the most emotional chapters I've written. I actually almost cried myself. Read on to find out why.**

Once the girls had finished eating as much of their breakfasts as they dared to eat, they all went into the living room and sat on the big couch in there while Alex stood in front of them nervously pacing and twiddling her thumbs. Alex showed signs of hesitance to tell her story, but after getting some reassuring glances from her friends, she took a deep breath and launched into it.

"Believe it or not, I'm adopted Candice. I've been living with Matt and Jeff and Daddy for as long as I can remember. There were people that didn't exactly approve of them adopted me, but they didn't care. They loved me and that's all that mattered to them. Well, the time came for me to start going to school with other kids my age. So they enrolled me in elementary school. And needless to say, my first day there was like hell. Kids called me names and pushed me. I was hiding in the bathroom crying when AJ and Kaitlyn found me."

* * *

_'Hey, is someone in there?'_

_ 'No! Go away!' Alex shouted._

_ 'Hey, we just want to help. Why don't you come out of there?'_

_ 'O…ok.' Alex said, stepping out of the stall she was hiding in._

_ 'There. That's better. Hey, you're the girl that was adopted by Mr. Hardy. My name is Kaitlyn and my friend here is April, but she likes to be called AJ.' Kaitlyn said, extending her hand which Alex shook._

_ 'Nice to meet you both too.' Alex said, wiping her face and smiling._

* * *

"And just like that, I met two of my closest and best friends ever. We've been friends ever since that day. And anytime AJ and me had bully issues, Kaitlyn would always come to our rescue." Alex said smiling in Kaitlyn's direction. "After a few years, we got even closer and as we moved on to middle school, we made even more friends with other people. Then there came the day we met Michelle."

* * *

_'Hey guys. Look, there's a new kid here." Alex said, pointing at the girl with blonde hair and red streaks, Pokemon t-shirt, and black skirt._

_ 'Yeah. Do you think we should all go over and introduce ourselves?' Mickie asked._

_ 'Seems like the right thing to do.' Melina said, leaping up from her seat, the others following suit._

_ 'Hey new kid. My name is Kaitlyn. And these are my friends Alex, AJ, Mickie, Melina, Amy, Trish, Maria, Ashley, and Chris. What's your name?' _

_ 'Michelle. Michelle McCool.'_

_ 'Pleased to meet you Michelle.' The group chorused, making Michelle laugh._

* * *

"And just like that, we made friends with Michelle. Things were going well, until we all moved on to middle school." Alex said trembling.

"Hey, Alex. Are you OK?" Candice asked, leaping up from her spot on the couch.

"Yeah, I just…I just…I can't tell anymore of the story. Amy, do you think you or Kaitlyn could take over from here?" Alex said, starting to cry.

"Sure thing, baby sis." Amy said, rising from her spot on the floor while Kaitlyn helped Alex sit down next to her on the floor. "OK. So like Alex said, in time Michelle met me and the others. Well, the minute she arrived there and made friends with cheerleaders, her attitude went south. She started acting mean and hateful and stuck-up towards the ones she used to call her friends and everyone around her in general. Well, it was when Alex and the others started middle school, Michelle singled them out more than any other students mainly because of the fact that they were more out there than most of students. Alex in particular got teased because of the fact that she was an adopted orphan. So one day, Michelle and her crew did something so disgusting that it amazes that no one at that school ever found out what they did to Alex." Amy said, clenching and unclenching her fists, trembling with rage.

"What did they do?" Candice asked, fear starting to make her feel cold.

"They jumped and beat up our baby sister! That's what happened!" Matt and Jeff shouted through tears, making all of the girls jump in shock.

"They did what?" Candice asked, covering her mouth in shock.

"You heard us. They jumped poor Alex. Michelle actually thinks no one saw them do it, but I did. It was terrible. I had just left the library when I saw Michelle, Kelly, Layla, Beth, Natalya, and the other girls and guys in their group kicking, punching, burning, and cutting away at another student. I yelled at them to stop and when they saw it was me, they all ran away laughing at what they did. When I finally ran over to where the kid was lying, my heart nearly stopped when I saw that it was my baby sister. She was a horrible broken and bloody mess. So, acting fast, I picked her and ran her to the nurse's office, which caused the nurse to call 911 and get an ambulance to the school." Jeff said, shuddering from all of the sobs that were tearing through him.

"A group of upperclassmen did that to just one student?" Candice said, blinking back tears.

"Yeah. And the scary thing is that even though Jeff tried to tell someone, no one believes him. Ever since that day, Michelle and her crew have been at odds with us always. But I think the worst part of is the fact that they really did a number on Alex's self-esteem and confidence in herself. The day of the incident, when everyone saw her in the hospital all wrapped up with IV tubes coming out of her, everyone just broke down and started crying. We all believed Jeff when he said Michelle and her friends did it, so the next Monday at school, all of us fought all of them. Sure we got suspended, but we didn't care. It just goes to show that you can't just go around hurting whoever you want. We even told Alex that we got revenge for her, but she didn't seem to care. She just had this awful blank look in her eyes. It was like Alex's body was there, but her soul and spirit had all but left her." Matt said crying.

"Oh my god." Candice said, breathlessly.

"And do you want to know the worst part of all of this? Because of what those assholes did, Alex is scarred for life. Those scars and burns and bruises, those are with her for life. And because of that, Alex can't seem to trust people anymore and she doesn't think she's beautiful at all anymore. We keep telling her, but she just can't seem to believe it." Trish said, tearing up.

By the time Trish said this, all of the girls were crying now including Candice. She had no clue that someone as young and kind as Alex had ever been through something like this. At this point, all Candice could do was hug her youngest friend. 'It's OK Alex. I'll always be here for you.' Candice thought as she rubbed Alex's back.

**Read and review. Now that Candice knows about what happened to Alex, she sees her young friend in a whole new light. She now wants to take it upon herself to protect Alex from Michelle along with the other freaks. But when Monday comes, what will Candice do when she comes face-to-face with Michelle? Stay tuned for chapter 7. =)**


	7. The Confrontation

**Sorry for the wait. I've been busy with college work and then I got sidetracked writing a one-shot when I should've updated this. I actually had to research different reasons why people are bullied and I found a valid one that I used.**

When Monday came around, Candice and the other freaks were back in school. So far, things were going relatively smoothly, which had all of them worried. Knowing the fact that Michelle and her friends might be planning something had Candice on edge, and after she told her friends, they were a bit on edge too. First period went by uneventfully with Mr. Cole droning on about important historical figures who lived during the Roman empire. Candice had nearly drifted off to sleep until she felt someone tap her shoulder and looked over to see AJ handing her a note. Curiously, Candice took the note and unfolded it.

_'Hey Candice. Are you feeling fine? You look sick. -Melina'_

Picking up her pencil, Candice replied back, _'Yeah. I guess you could say I'm feeling fine. I'm just not looking forward to second period and dealing with Michelle.'_

Getting the note back, Melina replied, _'I know what you mean. The worst part is that you have to sit right next to her. But today is a good day in English. =)'_

_ 'Good day? What exactly do you mean?'_

_ 'We're going to be in the library today. We have to search for a book to use for our book reports. Good news is that it can be any book we want.'_

_ 'Sweet. And there's only ten more minutes of this boring class left.'_

_ 'Yeah. And the awesome thing is that Mr. Cole hasn't noticed us passing this back and forth.'_

Candice was about to reply, but soon the bell rang and students got up and left the room. Melina and Candice parted ways with the rest of their friends and headed to Mr. Adamle's room. The whole time they were walking there, they were having a discussion about which books would be the best choices for them to use. They made it to Mr. Adamle's room before the bell rang and as soon as class started, Mr. Adamle took attendance and told the class to head on to the library. As Candice and Melina were headed towards the library, they were stopped by Michelle and her brunette friend.

"Well well. What do we have here Lay?" Michelle asked.

"Looks like a couple of loser freaks to me 'Chelle." her friend answered.

"Fuck off. We're just trying to head to the library to find something to do these reports on." Melina said angrily.

"Yeah. Because I guess that besides being the biggest losers in town, you freaks are also dorky ass nerds." Michelle's friend Layla laughed.

"Oh yeah? Well from what I hear, your bimbo of a friend beside you used to be one of the freaks too." Candice said, with a devilish smirk.

"So what? She came to her senses when she met me and the rest of the popular kids. We've been better friends to her than Alexis and the rest of those losers." Layla said, stepping forward.

"You _so_ don't want to go there Layla. Don't you have any clue how bad I've wanted to lay my _fists _on you?" Melina said, cracking her knuckles.

Michelle cut in and said, "Like it matters? I'm sure you wouldn't want to get suspended again like you and your other freak friends did in the eighth grade. Now would yo-" Michelle was cut off by Candice slapping her in the face.

"What the fuck was that for, new kid?" Michelle spat, rubbing her face where it was slapped.

"That was for hurting Alexis all those years ago, you hateful bitches!" Candice shouted, making people in the hallway with them stop.

"And how the hell would you even know? You weren't even here." Layla said.

"I'm not a dumbass like you two. Her and the rest of my friends told me. How could you and a group of people do that to someone so small and defenseless? What did she ever do to you?" Candice shouted, tearing up.

After a minute of silence, Michelle finally responded, "Because she is who she is. And we couldn't stand that."

Hearing Michelle say that had Candice feel enraged beyond belief. 'How the hell could that be a valid reason? Just because Alex is who she is? That can't be.' Candice thought, her head spinning.

"Just because she is who she is? What the fuck kind of reason is that?" Melina shouted, taking a step forward.

"Because the world doesn't need creepy little freaks like her around to make the rest of us weird. If anything, we were doing Matt and Jeff a favor the day we beat her so bad that she had to be put in the hospital." Michelle laughed, Layla laughing as well.

Candice couldn't take anymore of Michelle and Layla teasing her friend anymore, but before she could even make a move, Melina charged forward, tackled Layla, and started to beat on her.

"AAHHH! Michelle, help me!" Layla screamed.

Before Michelle could move, Candice had pushed Michelle into the lockers beside them and ran to pull Melina off of Layla. Thrashing around, Melina was still trying to get at Layla, but it took Candice holding her back to get her to calm down. When Michelle helped Layla up, they saw that Layla had a bloody lip. Looking back at the two, Michelle spat, "New kid, you have no idea what you just did. Just a friendly tip: Don't you dare let me ever see that freak Alexis alone. Because I might just finish what I started." Michelle then helped Layla walk away to the nurse's office.

Panting, Candice turned to Melina and said, "Do you feel better after that?"

Panting, Melina answered, "Yeah. It just means that I was able to get a measure of revenge for Alex. How could Michelle say that the only reason why she and her crew beat Alex was because she is who she is? It makes no sense."

"I don't know, but this sounds like something that we need to talk with an adult about. But for now, we just need to focus on getting through the rest of today. Second period's almost over so let's just head to the gym." Candice said.

Hearing Michelle say what she said had Candice very mad and ticked off. The fact that her youngest friend was singled out as a target for bullying just for being herself had Candice upset. She had to think of a way to ensure that nothing like this would ever happen to Alex ever again. But little did Candice or Melina know, some of the students out in the halls had recorded what happened and as the day went on, the video of Candice and Melina standing up to two of the school's most popular students was circulating to the entire student body.

**Read and review. Candice and Melina were actually able to find out the reason why Michelle and her friends beat Alex so bad. And they were also able to exact a small amount of revenge on her tormentors. But, Michelle's warning has Candice and Melina worried. What could it mean for Alex? Stay tuned for chapter 8. =)**


	8. Michelle's Challenge

**Sorry for the extremely late update for this story. I was busy working on my other fic for my OC Alex, and the urge to keep pushing forward with that story was too strong. So I had to put this story on a temporary hiatus. But now, I will work towards finishing it soon. Hope you enjoy chapter 8. =)**

Third period flew by rather fast. In Gym, all Candice, Alex, and John did was run five laps and play a few rounds of volleyball. The girls were in the locker room with Melina when suddenly they heard some of the other girls talk about some video that they got on their phones at about 10 in the morning. The trio decided to make nothing of it, until one of the girls mentioned Layla and Melina.

"I just can't believe she did it though. Didn't Melina get suspended from school already for getting in a fight with Layla's friend Natalya?"

"I don't really know, but all I can say is that it's about damn time that someone decided to stand up to those bitches that are the supposed 'queens' of our school. Now let's hurry and head out. I don't want to keep Shawn waiting."

Hearing what those other girls had just said, Alex immediately just looked from Candice to Melina, worry evident on her face, and she asked "What did you two do?"

After briefly exchanging a look, Melina took a breath in and said "OK Alex, before you start to freak out, me and Candice kinda had a little altercation with Michelle and Layla on our way to the library for English. And Michelle and Layla just kept going on and on about them and their crew doing what they did to you all those years ago, so my anger got the better of me and I may have busted Layla's lip open. But, even you have to admit they had it coming. No one hurts one of our friends and can expect to get away with it."

Alex didn't even know what to say, so instead she hugged both of her friends very tight. Pulling away to look up at them, her hair moving slightly away from her eyes so that Candice and Melina saw what looked like happiness and a small glimmer of hope, Alex said "Thank you both. It must've taken a lot of guts to do what you did at school, especially with all of the teachers that could have you two kicked out. It really means a lot to me to know that my friends are looking out for me." She finished, smiling.

Seeing Alex actually genuinely happy due to this recent turn of events had Candice feel better about herself. She was keeping her promise to always be there and protect Alex when she needed it the most, so the fact that Alex was starting to look happier instead of looking afraid of every little thing, made Candice feel happier too.

"I'm glad you feel that way Alex. You deserve to be happy too, just like everyone else in the world." Melina said, hugging Alex again.

"She's right Alex. You can't let what Michelle and her lackeys do get to you. If anything, they're just jealous of how awesome you are." Candice said, smiling.

"You guys really think I'm awesome? Thanks a heap. Now, how about we head to lunch? John's probably getting antsy waiting for us." Alex said, heading for the door.

"Sure thing. Watching you guys exercise made me hungry." Melina said, laughing.

Candice laughed too as she, Melina, and Alex left the girls' locker room, met up with John, and headed to the cafeteria. As soon as the group of four got to the cafeteria and walked inside, nearly everyone in the cafeteria stared at them and immediately started whispering and talking about the little fight that happened between Candice, Melina, Michelle, and Layla. Ignoring the obvious whispering, the four got their food and made their way to their friends when suddenly, as soon as they arrived, Amy started to clap for Candice and Melina.

"You two get serious awesomeness points in my book because of what you did to Layla and Michelle. It's about damn time somebody finally decided to let those hateful bitches know that nobody's gonna keep taking shit from them anymore. Excellent work." Amy said, smiling.

"That was entirely accidental. My rage got the better of me, but I meditated and now I feel a lot more mellow now. But thank you. I do so love it when I have fans of what I do." Melina said, smiling back.

"I just hope Michelle won't want to rip their heads off because of it. I mean, I'm thankful that they stood up for me, but Michelle's got a fierce temper. What if she tries to hurt you guys back?" Alex asked.

"Then we'll be there to back them up like the good friends we are." Ashley said.

"Exactly. There's no way in hell we're gonna let those bitches hurt any of our friends anymore." Trish said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Speak of the devil. Look who's headed this way." Mickie said, pointing towards Michelle, Layla, Beth, Natalya, and Kelly coming towards their table, causing everyone to immediately be on their guard.

Reaching the freaks' table, Michelle stood there, glaring at Candice and Melina, before saying "You two must think you're pretty hot shit for what happened in the hall earlier this morning. Well, that was just dumb luck that me and Lay weren't expecting it."

"Well, we do pride ourselves on being quick and stealthy. Two things you cheerleaders so desperately need." Melina said, smirking at Layla.

"Like it matters. This means nothing. We're still the top of the pyramid and you creeps are just cobwebs down at the bottom." Layla said, despite having a fat lip.

"Whatevs. Is there something important you wanted to talk about? We were kinda in the middle of talking about something here." Candice said, impatiently.

"I've come with a proposition. I'm not sure if you know new kid, but every year during October, this school has a huge talent show. And for each of the years that I've been here, me and my girls have won." Michelle said, smiling pompously.

"Is that all? You just came over here to boost your delicate ego by telling us about how many times you've won the school's talent show?" Candice asked, looking bored.

"No. That's not it, if you'd just give me time to finish what I want to say. Geez you freaks are an impatient bunch. Anyway, my little proposition is that any of you freaks can compete in a fair competition against me and the other popular kids. And I do mean _any _of you." Michelle said, looking directly at Alex, who didn't flinch at all.

"Sounds fun to me. I've been told I'm one hell of a singer anyway, so it'll be fun. And if you'd like, I could give you girls a little taste of what's to come next month." Candice said, smirking.

"Whatever you'd like. I've been wanting to see something funny today anyway, so this may just be it." Michelle said, turning to look at her friends, who all started to laugh.

Standing, Candice asked her friends which song to sing until Punk had recommended that she sing the song 'Teenagers' by My Chemical Romance. Looking around at everyone in the cafeteria, who seemed hellbent on listening to every single word of what was going down, Candice soon launched singing.

_They're gonna clean up your looks_

_With all the lies in the books_

_To make a citizen out of you_

_Because they sleep with a gun_

_And keep an eye on you, son_

_So they can watch all the things you do_

_Because the drugs never work _

_They're gonna give you a smirk_

_Cause they got methods_

_Of keeping you clean_

_They're gonna rip up your heads_

_Your aspirations to shreds_

_Another cog in the murder machine_

_They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me_

_They couldn't care less as long as someone'll bleed_

_So darken your clothes_

_Or strike a violent pose_

_Maybe they'll leave you alone_

_But not me__  
_

_The boys and girls in the clique_

_The awful names that they stick _

_You're never gonna fit in much kid_

_But if you're troubled and hurt_

_What you got under your shirt_

_Will make them pay for the things that they did_

_They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me_

_They couldn't care less as long as someone'll bleed_

_So darken your clothes_

_Or strike a violent pose_

_Maybe they'll leave you alone_

_But not me_

_Whoa yeah! _

_They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me_

_They couldn't care less as long as someone'll bleed_

_So darken your clothes_

_Or strike a violent pose_

_Maybe they'll leave you alone_

_But not me_

_All together now, _

_Teenagers scare the living shit out of me_

_They couldn't care less as long as someone'll bleed_

_So darken your clothes_

_Or strike a violent pose_

_Maybe they'll leave you alone_

_But not me_

_Teenagers scare the living shit out of me_

_They couldn't care less as long as someone'll bleed_

_So darken your clothes_

_Or strike a violent pose_

_Maybe they'll leave you alone_

_But not me_

Once Candice had finished singing, she hadn't even realized how quiet the cafeteria was until her friends, one by one, started clapping and cheering for her, which was soon followed up by many of the other kids in the cafeteria starting to clap and cheer at the performance Candice just gave. To say that Michelle was shocked was an understatement. She couldn't think of one thing to say, so she turned on her heel and walked away, her friends speeding away to try to catch her. As soon as Candice sat down, she was immediately showered with praise by all of her friends. She even looked over and saw that Alex was smiling brightly and praising her too. Seeing Alex genuinely happy was something that Candice always wanted to see. And she was going to see more of this Alex by exposing Alex to all of the fun that she could have with her friends. With luck, the others will help her with her plan. And just like that, it seemed like things were getting better for the freaks of UPHS.

**Read and review. After being able to stand up to Michelle and the other popular kids for the second time in a day, Candice is filled with an enormous swell of joy and happiness. She's even happier after seeing Alex much happier than she has been. But could Michelle's talent show challenge mean that she and the other popular kids have something in store for the freaks? Stay tuned for chapter 9. =)**


	9. Girls' Day Out

**I finally got to update this story. I began typing this chapter 3 nights ago, but I got sidetracked by starting my newest story, _Do You See What I See?_. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It has a lot of cuteness in it. And if you'd like, read my other story in progress too. What I have done is pretty solid so far. ^^**

As the day went on, the talk of the school seemed to be Michelle challenging Candice and the freaks to compete in the talent show. Auditions were going to be held in two weeks, but kids in Chorus could audition early if they wanted to. So Candice decided to have her early audition, which earned her a guaranteed spot in the talent show. By the time the bell rang for the day to end, Candice was walking out of the building with Jeff, Alex, Daniel, Kaitlyn, and Maria when she was hit with an idea.

"Hey Maria, Kaitlyn, Alex. Do you guys have any plans this weekend?" Candice asked.

"No. I'm pretty much free." Maria said.

"Me too. I mean, I do have homework for Algebra, but that can wait till Sunday." Kaitlyn said, grinning.

"I'm free too. Why do you ask Candice?" Alex asked curiously.

"I was wondering if you guys and some of the other girls might want to have a girls' day out this Saturday? My folks are gonna be busy with my little brother and sister, so I figured we could all do something together." Candice asked.

"Sure." Maria said.

"Sounds like fun to me." Kaitlyn said.

"It does sound like fun. If you want all the girls to go, we could text them and let them know about your plan for Saturday. I'll be sure to text you as soon as we find out." Alex said, smiling shyly.

"OK. I'll see you girls tomorrow then." Candice said, parting ways with her friends to head to her car. Once she got to it, she was approached by Punk.

"Hey Candice. I was wondering if I could ask you something." Punk said, blushing slightly.

"Sure Punk. What is it?" Candice asked.

"Well, I was wondering….that is if you won't be too terribly busy…." Punk said, stuttering.

"Punk, are you trying to ask me out on a date?" Candice asked.

"Umm….Well, yeah actually. Would you go out with me maybe the day after the talent show? I know it sounds weird to ask you out on a date so late into next month, but I figured you'll probably be busy with practicing what you're gonna sing, so I figured just wait until you were done with everything." Punk said, licking his lip ring nervously.

"I'd love to. Just be sure to let me know what you have planned for our date on the day of it." Candice said, smiling.

Then, doing something neither of them expected to happen, Candice stood on her tiptoes, leaned forward, and kissed Punk on the cheek. After she kissed him, Candice got in her car and left school, blushing and smiling when she saw Punk doing a happy dance in her rearview mirror. 'Well, this was certainly another interesting week.' Candice thought on her drive home.

* * *

As soon as Candice walked in the doorway of her house, she heard her phone ring and she pulled it out to see that she just got a text from Alex.

_'The others said they'll be able to go. Whose house are we gonna meet up at Saturday morning?'_

_ 'Let's meet at your house. Everyone knows where it is, so that way we can all leave at the same time once we eat.'_

_ 'OK. I'll see you tomorrow then Candice. Feel free to text me later if you'd like.'_

_ 'OK. I'm actually home alone right now. Would it be fine if I came over to your house until my parents came home?'_

_ 'Sure. Daddy's here and so are Matt, Jeff, Amy, and Maria. Just head over when you feel like it. =)'_

After Candice finished texting Alex, she called her parents to let them know she was going to be over at the Hardys' house until they got home from work. Once she hung up, she put her bookbag in the living room, locked her door and went back to her car. As soon as she made it to Alex's house, she saw that Matt and Jeff were out at the dirt biking area they had in their backyard. Heading into the house, she heard something that sounded like someone singing. Following the sound, she went to the room that had Jeff and Alex's instruments and saw that Amy and Maria were smiling at Alex, who was singing Evanescence's cover of Lithium.

_Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow._

_ Don't want to let it lay me down this time._

_ Drown my will to fly._

_ Here in the darkness I know myself._

_ Can't break free until I let it go._

_ Let me go._

_ Darling, I forgive you... After all,_

_ Anything is better than to be alone._

_ And in the end I guess I had to fall._

_ Always find my place among the ashes._

_ I can't hold on to me,_

_ Wonder what's wrong with me._

_ Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside._

_ Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without..._

_ Lithium, ...stay in love with you._

_ I'm gonna let it go._

When Alex was done, she smiled and began blushing as Amy and Maria kept cheering. Another thing that Candice had noticed while Alex was singing was that she had her bangs pinned away, so as Alex hit each note of the song, she saw a glimmer in Alex's eyes that showed she was having fun singing. This was a sight that had Candice actually start to tear up with joy, so when she started to clap, she had unknowingly startled Amy, Maria, and Alex.

"Alex, that was beautiful. How come you never said you could sing so awesomely?" Candice asked, walking into the room.

"Well, I've never really had much of a desire to sing in front of others because of all of my scars on my face. I figured all of my scars would just distract everyone from hearing me sing so I've only kept it between our friends and my dad." Alex said, blushing and smiling.

"Well, I think you shouldn't hide it. You've got real talent Alex." Candice said, smiling at Alex.

"Thanks. So, what should we do while you're over here? You wanna watch a movie? We've got 'Corpse Bride' on DVD if you'd like to watch it." Alex said smiling.

"Oh really? Let's go watch it. I've been dying to see that movie, but I can never seem to watch it all the way through." Candice said excitedly.

"OK. I'll go get the movie ready to play." Alex said, skipping away to the living room.

"Friendly word of advice: We know this movie word for word, songs included. Be prepared for a hell of a movie-watching time." Amy said, smiling evilly.

"I'll be ready for the worst." Candice said, returning Amy's smile.

After the movie had started, the girls were immediately singing the songs in time with the movie, which had Candice laughing at her friends. They hadn't even realized that the movie was halfway over until Candice's phone started to ring with a call from her parents. Alex paused the movie long enough for Candice to take the call. Once Candice had gotten off the phone with her parents, Alex played the movie through to the end. After the movie ended, Candice left to head home.

Candice arrived home to find that her family was sitting down to dinner. As soon as Candice sat down, she started to tell her parents about her day and about how she auditioned for the school's talent show.

"That's wonderful dear. Are you going to sing?" Mrs. Beckman asked.

"Yeah. I think some of my other friends might audition too." Candice said.

"Just know that we'll be in the audience to cheer you on." Mr. Beckman said.

"Yeah Candi. You gonna win." Candice's younger brother and sister, Ryan and Kassidy, said happily.

"Thanks you guys. I hope so." Candice said smiling.

After everyone finished eating, they all went off to their separate rooms. Candice had finished getting ready for bed and was about to go to sleep when her phone started to ring. Looking at the screen, she saw that it was a call from Punk.

"Hey Punk. What's up?"

_'I was just calling you to make sure you were OK. Maria let me know that you were at Alex's house earlier and I wanted to be sure you made it home safe."_

"Thanks for worrying. I was about to go to sleep for the night. I'll text you once I get home from my day out with Alex and the other girls."

_"OK. I'll text you later then. Night."_

"Good night Punk." Candice said, smiling and ending the call.

Drifting off into a peaceful sleep, Candice started to have a dream about her day tomorrow. She was especially hoping that Alex would be able to have fun too.

* * *

The next morning, Candice woke up and proceeded to get ready for her day out today. After finishing getting ready, Candice told her parents where she was going to be for the day and left. When she got to the Hardys' house, she saw that she was the last girl to arrive. As soon as she walked in, she was greeted with what sounded like the other girls arguing about what to do for the day.

"I vote we go to the arcade."

"No way AJ. You'll make the rest of us look like chumps. Let's go to the park and just sit out in the sun."

"As much fun as that sounds Ash, I'd rather be someplace indoors. You know I've got bad allergies."

"We could always go shopping. I need a few new shirts and pairs of pants anyways."

"I want to go to the movies."

"Guys. It isn't really our decision unless we vote on it. This was all Candice's idea, so I think at the very least we could wait for her to show up."

"Well, no need to wait any longer girls." Candice said laughing, causing her friends to jump. "I need to do some shopping myself, so I say we could go to the mall and later, we could catch a late movie."

"Sounds like fun to me. Let's go." Melina said, heading for the door after Candice. Once Alex told her dad, Matt, and Jeff that she was leaving with the other girls, they told her to be safe and to have fun.

Matt, Jeff, and their dad watched the girls leave and all the while, they were talking about how happy and excited Alex looked to go out.

"I can't believe how much Alex has opened up in the past few weeks. I guess having Candice here really helped open her up." Matt said, smiling.

"I can't believe it either. Usually Amy and the others would have to drag Alex out of the house be her ankles just to get her to even go near the mall." Jeff said, smiling.

"I guess having Candice as a friend is finally helping Alex re-open herself to others. I'm glad that she met her." Gilbert said, smiling as well.

* * *

The girls were nearly done shopping when Candice came across a store that sold dresses.

"Oooh guys. Let's go in here. I want to see if I can find a cute dress or two." Candice said.

"Umm, don't you think you've bought enough? I mean, you do have five bags." Alex said.

"In my world, you only bought enough when your arms get exhausted. And I've still got some energy left to carry these bags." Candice said, smiling at Alex.

"If you say so. I guess we could look around in here for a little bit." Alex said, blushing slightly.

Walking into the store, the girls fanned out and started to look around at all of the different dresses in there. All of them, aside from Alex, soon found dresses that they liked and went to the dressing rooms to try on their choices. As they each came out, they complimented each other on how their own dress choice made them look, with compliments ranging from "You look so pretty" to "You were born to wear that dress". Candice then came out to find that Alex hadn't tried on a dress.

"Alex, how come you haven't tried on a dress?" Candice asked, causing the other girls to ask the same thing.

"Well….I've never really liked dresses. Half the time, Amy and Maria have to wrestle me into any skirts they buy me. So I tend to not really wear pretty stuff like that." Alex said, looking down and tracing the carpet with the toe of her Converse.

"Well, you're going to like wearing dresses today. Guys, I want you all to go look around for a dress that you guys think Alex would like to wear. I'll take her in one of the dressing rooms and get her ready." Candice said.

"Sure thing." the girls said together, before leaving to look around for a dress for Alex.

"Candice, I'm touched you want to do this for me, but I don't think it's necessa-RY!" Alex said as Candice yanked her to an empty dressing room.

"Alex, I'm doing this because we're friends. And friends do things like this for their friends." Candice said, smiling at Alex before closing the dressing room door behind her.

"….Thanks. I'm sure maybe I'll like the dress the others get for me." Alex said, smiling and blushing.

Knocking from the other side of the door let Candice know that the girls had found a dress and as soon as she opened the door, Maria handed Candice a dress that was a pale cream color with a pink belt at the waist and had a floral design. When Alex saw the dress that her friends planned on putting her in, she started to object when Amy told her that they would burn her The Mortal Instruments books as soon as they got back home. Dejectedly, Alex put on the dress as soon as Candice left out of the room.

"Guys, I don't know if this dress is right for me. It's so pink." Alex said.

"Alex, if I picked it out for you, then you should know that it's a good fit for you. Now come out and let us see you in it." Maria said.

"Whatever you say." Alex said, stepping out of the dressing room.

As soon as the other girls saw Alex in the dress, they were in shock over how cute she looked. They actually couldn't believe that when she went in she had been wearing a Death Note t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. Looking at Alex in the dress had them all smile over the quick transformation.

"Alex, you look so pretty." AJ said, being the first to break the silence that had been caused when Alex stepped out of the dressing room.

Hearing AJ say this had Alex blushing crazily, but then she asked "You really think so AJ?", which earned multiple yeses from all of her friends. Alex seemed to be in disbelief until Candice and Trish each took her by the arms and dragged her to one of the store's mirrors where Alex saw herself. After seeing her reflection, Alex started to blush again and tear up slightly.

"Wow. I really do look pretty." Alex said, twirling around.

"We knew you would. Maybe you could wear this to school. Except with one slight change." Candice said.

"What change do you mean Candice?" Alex asked.

"Maybe, once you get ready enough to, you could wear you bangs pinned away from your face. That is, once you feel comfortable enough to." Candice said.

After a brief moment of ponderance, Alex decided she would, only when she felt ready to. She was about to head back to the dressing room to change when a voice calling over to her stopped her.

"Alex?"

Turning, Alex saw who the voice belonged to. "Cody? Hi. What are you doing at the mall?"

"Umm…Well, I was here with Ted and Dustin and I decided to make a game and clothing run while I was here. I never expected to bump into you at a dress shop."

"Yeah. Well, it was actually Candice's idea that we all come shopping here. I only bought a copy of Radiant Historia and Mortal Kombat for myself, as well as the first few volumes of Death Note. The other girls insisted that I buy a dress to have to wear." Alex said, blushing.

"Well, I think it makes you look really cute." Cody said, blushing himself.

"Really? You think I look cute Cody?" Alex asked, enthusiasm creeping into her voice.

"Absolutely. I've always thought that no matter what you wore, you were one of the cutest girls at school. And so, I was wondering, maybe if you weren't too busy, maybe next weekend, you'd like to go on a date with me?" Cody asked, after stuttering several times.

"I-I'd love to Cody. That is, if you don't mind going out with me. I mean, you have heard about what happened to me in middle school right?" Alex asked.

"I heard, and I've seen your face as a result of the aftermath and quite frankly, I really don't care. Because, to me, I've always thought that you were way prettier than Michelle and the other popular girls." Cody said, brushing Alex's bangs off her face.

"Y-you really think so Cody? That's so sweet of you to say." Alex said, smiling, blushing, and tearing up again.

"Yes I do. And I hope I can make our date next weekend really fun." Cody said, smiling back and blushing.

"I know you will Cody. You're one of the most fun people that I know." Alex said.

"Thanks. I should probably go now. Ted and Dustin are waiting for me. I'll see you at school Monday." Cody said. And before leaving, he planted a quick kiss on Alex's forehead, which made them both blush.

As soon as Cody had left, Alex started to smile widely and turning back to look at Candice and Trish, as well as the others, she saw that they were all smiling widely at her.

"Alex. You have a date." AJ said, excitedly.

"That's terrific. Now we have a legit reason to come back to the mall to find you a really cute outfit that won't look out of place on you." Maria said.

"You are definitely gonna have to let me do your hair." Mickie said.

Everyone was definitely happy that the youngest in their group got asked out on a date. But Candice didn't know who Cody was, so after the girls were dressed in their regular clothes and had bought their dresses, Candice decided to ask Ashley.

"Hey Ash. Do you think you could tell me more about who Cody is?"

"Oh yeah. You guys haven't really been introduced. Well, his full name is Cody Rhodes. And he's a freshman like Alex, AJ, Kaitlyn, Daniel, Derrick, and Evan. He's actually a pretty nice kid. From what I know, he's got two classes with Alex. I've actually got one of those classes with the two of them, so whenever I happen to look over him, I see that he's always looking at Alex in a really admiring way, kinda like people that look at the person that is the 'one' for them." Ashley said.

"So Cody has a huge crush on Alex? That's so cute." Candice said smiling.

"It really is. And between you and me, I think Alex has had quite a crush on Cody for some time now too. This date is just the thing to finally get these two little lovebirds together." Ashley said smiling.

"Guys? What's keeping you two? We're gonna miss the movie if you two keep dragging your feet." Melina said.

"We're coming." Candice said laughing.

"Don't worry. We'll make it to the theater in time to pick a movie to watch." Ashley said.

Once the girls got in their cars and left the mall, they made it to the movie theater in time to pick a movie. After of minutes of debating over which movie to see, they decided on 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'. They made it to the section where Madagascar was playing in time enough for the main credits to start. By the time the movie was over, the girls had left the theater and went back to Alex's house since it got dark. They decided, after calling their parents, that they would stay the night at Alex's.

All through the night, the girls had fun talking about their shopping trip, how funny they thought Madagascar 3 was and Alex's upcoming date with Cody.

"Alex, you must be so nervous. I can tell Cody was from the way he stuttered to get the question out." Melina said.

"I am. Don't remind me. I feel queasy just thinking about it." Alex said blushing.

"You shouldn't, but then again this is your first major date, so don't worry about it so much." Amy said.

"But what if I do something stupid or embarrassing, like puke on him by accident? He might never want to talk to me ever again." Alex said, hanging her head.

"OK. I really don't think something like that will happen, but you've always got us here to off up advice. We'll help you through this. We're all just so happy that you're going on your first real date. This is so exciting!" Kaitlyn said, clapping and hugging Alex.

"Thanks you guys. I'll be sure to come ask you guys about what to do on my date." Alex said smiling at her friends.

"Hey, that's what friends are for. We'll always be here for you and for each other, no matter what happens." Mickie said smiling.

The rest of the night was filled with the girls watching movies and playing games. By the time it was time for the girls to go to sleep, Candice decided to climb in bed with Alex.

"Alex, is it OK if I share your bed with you? Everywhere else is taken up."

"Oh sure. I don't mind sharing my bed at all." Alex said, moving to let Candice get in bed with her.

"Thanks Alex. You're so sweet. I'm glad that we met on my first day." Candice said.

"I'm glad too Candice. I hope we can be BFFs, just like I am with the others." Alex said smiling and yawning.

As Alex drifted off to sleep, holding her stuffed Skelanimals rabbit close to her, Candice gave Alex a gentle kiss on the forehead before drifting off to sleep herself. "Good night Alex." Candice said before sleep took over her.

**Read and review. The girls seemed to have fun out at the mall. And as a bonus, Alex got asked out on a date by Cody. With the encouragement of her girlfriends, Alex is feeling happy and excited for her upcoming date. And Candice is more than excited that her girls' day plan resulted in her youngest friend getting asked out by a guy who really seems to like her. Will Alex and Cody's date go well, with the help of Alex's friends? Stay tuned for chapter 10.**

**The link for a pic of the dress Alex tried on is on my page. (It's way different than the clothes she usually wears. ^^)**


	10. 2 Days Off of School (Part 1)

When Monday eventually came around, Candice and the others were actually seeing some noticeable changes in Alex's behavior. They noticed that she seemed to slowly become more willing to wear girlier clothes and that she was getting accustomed to having her bangs pinned away from her eyes. Sunday came and when Candice was getting ready for bed, she got a call from Punk.

_"Hey Candice. I'm not calling you at a bad time, am I?"_

"No, not at all. I was getting ready for bed, but I can talk for a few more minutes. What's up?"

_"I heard about what you and the other girls did for Alex and I thought that was really sweet. Maybe when she wears the dress Ria was telling me she picked out for her, you guys can take pics and show them to me."_

"I'll be sure to do that. I think that we're making progress trying to get Alex to open up. Today, we actually got her to wear a skirt the whole day and keep her bangs pinned away from her face. She looked so cute I thought I was gonna die."

_"Well, it's really awesome that you guys are helping to open her up. Maybe she'll open up enough to audition for the talent show."_

"I hope so too. Maybe if she does, some of us could try to do a group performance of sorts."

_"That'd be cool. I could be one of the guys that plays instruments while you, Alex, and whoever else decides to join you guys sing."_

"That's actually a pretty cool idea. It's definitely something that we'll have to bounce off the others at school tomorrow. I know Maria and Ashley said they wanted to try to audition, so maybe this'll be encouragement enough for at least some of the others to audition. You're brilliant Punk. You know that, right?"

_"Well,….I wouldn't say I'm all _that _great. I have my moments at the least. It's pretty late now, so I'll let you get some sleep. Good night, beautiful. See you tomorrow."_

"Night handsome. Sleep well." Candice said, smiling as she ended the call. 'I wonder if tomorrow's gonna be smooth sailing. Michelle and her crew haven't tried anything for a while, so unless they're waiting until the talent show, they must have something brewing. I'd better keep an eye on things just in case.' Candice thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Candice was startled out of her sleep by her alarm clock ringing. She stretched her arms and proceeded to head to her closet when she got a text from Alex.

_"Hey Candice. You're not getting ready for school by chance, are you?"_

"Yeah I am Alex. Why do you ask?"

_"Because, after looking at my scheduler, it turns out we actually get the next two days out of school."_

"Are you serious? I woke up early for nothing?"

_"It would appear so. What are you gonna do now?"_

"IDK. Maybe I'll try to catch some more sleep, but that'll be a negative on my end. Once I'm up, I can't go back to sleep."

_"Ohh. Well, you can text me in two hours. I'm gonna try to catch some more Z's. Ttyl."_

After sending her last text to Alex, Candice flopped down on her bed, feeling irritated that she was up so early on a day that she didn't even have school. So, instead of sitting around her house groaning until Alex and some of the others were up, she decided to throw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt with a picture of Snoopy & Woodstock, and her Converses, along with a jacket and proceeded to leave her house. Once she explained that Alex told her that school was out for the next two days, they told her she could go out.

Getting in her car, Candice decided to go for a ride downtown until she came across a small shop that sold antiques. After browsing around, she decided to buy an old painting of a city scene. When Candice found she still had time to kill, she decided to head to a Starbucks and get an iced white chocolate mocha and two chocolate chunk cookies. As soon as she got what she ordered, she decided to sit at an outside table when she came face-to-face with two people she didn't want anything to do with.

'Just keep walking Candice. You've seen them, but they haven't see-' "Hey Chelle, look over there. It's one of the freaks." Layla said, a mocking edge in her voice, interrupting Candice's thoughts.

"Oh there she is. And she was probably thinking she could just duck out on us. Hey loser? What brings you to a Starbucks on a Monday morning?" Michelle asked.

"The same reason why I imagine everyone else here came for: to get coffee and something to eat." Candice said, holding up her mocha and cookies.

"Isn't a bit early in the morning for sweets? You might get such a sugar rush you won't be able to really focus on anything else, like, say, the talent show." Michelle said.

"OK, look here, number 1: It's never too early for sweets and number 2: Why the hell does it matter to you that I'm in the talent show? You're the dumbass that challenged me and my friends to enter into it." Candice said.

"Because it's to show the rest of the school that people can't just think that they can just waltz around thinking that the world should revolve around them when it should revolve around people more worthy of the attention." Michelle said.

"And by people more worthy, you mean you and the rest of the popular kids?" Candice asked, anger slowly rising.

"Look who's being a smart girl this morning. Maybe there is some hope for you after all, Beckman." Michelle said, smirking.

At this point, Candice was starting to shake with anger she wanted to release on Michelle and Layla right then, but instead she took a deep breath and said "I think that you should direct that last statement towards yourself. If all you have ever do is just come up with ways to put other people down, then you really are as pathetic as I've thought you were since the day I first encountered you in Adamle's class. Now if you'll both excuse, I think I'm gonna head to my car and go home where I won't have to worry about the pompousness in here killing me." Candice then turned and left Starbucks, leaving Michelle and Layla speechless.

* * *

As soon as Candice got home, she decided that after the little episode she had at Starbucks she'd take a nap. So, instead of putting the effort into climbing the stairs to her room, she decided to flop on her couch and catch a nap.

Candice was later startled out of her nap by her phone ringing indicating that she had gotten a new text. When she pulled her phone out of her pocket, she saw that the text had come from Maria.

_"Heyy Candice. Are you awake right now?"_

"Actually I just got back from Starbucks. You wouldn't believe who I ran into while I was there. Michelle and Layla. They pissed me off so badly I couldn't even eat the cookies or drink the mocha I had bought from there. But anywho, enough about me and my shitty morning. How are you Maria?"

_"I'm actually just waking up myself when I got this crazy idea to ask you and the other girls something."_

"Sure thing. Ask away."

_ "I was actually wondering if you guys would like to have another girls' day out, like we did Saturday. The others had lots of fun, so I wanted to ask."_

"Sure. Another girls' day sounds like fun. Plus we could use it as an excuse to help Alex get ready for her date with Cody this weekend."

_"I like the way you think. That's exactly what me & the others had planned on doing. We're all gonna meet at Alex's house again. See you later. =)"_

After prying herself off of her couch, Candice decided to eat her cookies and take her mocha with her to Alex's house. On the drive over, Candice decided to sing along with a Maroon 5 song that was playing on the radio. As soon as she pulled up to Alex's house, she noticed that everyone was sitting outside. Curiously, Candice got out of her car and went over to where her friends were sitting.

"Hey guys? What's up?" Candice asked.

"Candice! Perfect timing. We need you to help us with something." Maria said.

"What is it?"

"We need you to help us talk Alex into going shopping again for a date outfit. She's been tearing herself up over it, but she won't budge as far as letting us take her to try on something." Ashley said.

"Why exactly do you guys think getting me to talk to her about it will change her mind?" Candice asked.

"You might not exactly have noticed, but you've actually helped open Alex up a lot. Before you moved here, she's only been partially open to doing stuff like this. I guess none of us ever really had the willpower or strength to try and push her to really open up. You've really been a huge help. To Alex and to the rest of us." Maria said, smiling.

'Can this all be true? Could it really be possible that having me around has helped Alex? I guess I see what Maria means. Alex never really seemed open to things like this. The least I could do is try to work my magic on her.' Candice thought. "OK. I'll go try talking her into it." Candice said, standing and walking towards the house. As soon as she walked inside, she heard AJ and Kaitlyn talking to someone who seemed to be crying. Walking upstairs, she stopped outside Alex's bedroom when she heard the trio talking.

"Guys I don't know if I can go through with this now. Yesterday I was just full of a lot of fake bravery."

"Alex, honey, you _really _need to stop second-guessing yourself about stuff like this."

"But I'm serious. I've never felt more nervous about anything in my life than I have about this. I mean I _really _like Cody, and the last thing I'd want to do is embarrass him."

"I honestly think that you shouldn't air on the negative side of things. And didn't we two, Mickie, and the others promise to help you out with this?"

"I know, but still. I could do everything perfectly on these practice dates you guys have with me and when the real date happens, I could end up turning into a stuttering mess."

"That's why we're gonna have the practice dates with you. That way when Saturday comes, you won't have first date jitters."

"OK. I'm more than willing to do the practice dates, but I'm drawing the line at trying to find a new outfit to wear just for this date."

"Aww. Why not?"

"Because, knowing Ria, Mickie, and Melina, they'll try to force me into some all-pink monstrosity. I'd rather wear something that I already own."

"But, Alex. They already know that you've drawn the line at being covered from head-to-toe in pink. The least you could do is let them try to find something you might like. I mean, you did like that dress you tried on Saturday, didn't you? Would it really kill you to wear something like that?"

"No. It'll just make me look like one of the popular kids. And you know how much that'll make me feel like a backstabber."

"Alex, please stop talking like that. Just because you wear one outfit that shows you may have popular kid fashion sense doesn't make you any different than the rest of us."

"I'm aware of that. Michelle and her flunkies made it obvious that they don't want someone like me in their inner circle."

"What they did to you all those years ago shouldn't still be bugging you. I thought you had put it behind you."

"Well, it does still get to me. You two don't have to wake up every morning and look in a mirror and see scars and burns and bruises that will never go away. And, between us, I think Cody's only going on a date with me out of pity."

"Alex, we didn't want it to come to this but-" Candice's knocking on Alex's door made all conversation in the room stop. "Come in."

Candice walked into Alex's room and immediately went over to stand in front of Alex, with her arms folded across her chest.

Before Alex, AJ, or Kaitlyn could say a word, Candice held up a hand, indicating that they should be quiet. "Alex, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but is everything I just heard you say true?"

"What do you mean Candice?" Alex said, staring at the floor.

"You know what I mean. I know that you may have gotten past being nervous about your date, but are you honestly thinking that Cody is only dating you out of pity?"

"Candice, in case you haven't really noticed, I have a face like Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The only person that could like someone that looks like me would have to someone who's a huge idiot." Alex said, tears starting to roll down her face.

"Alex, do you really think that? Or is that just the opinion that other people have of you?" Candice asked.

"Well, not exactly. I mean, Saturday, when I had on that dress, I felt like I was the prettiest girl in the world. But, what does my opinion matter? I'm just one person." Alex said.

"But it's not just you who feels that way. I think you're one of the prettiest people I've ever met." Candice said.

"We think that too Alex. You've always been one of the best-looking people ever to us, no matter what you wore. It's sad and true that most of the world seems to value how you look, but you should know that you'll never have to worry about that with us. As long as you stay true to yourself, we'll always love you no matter what." AJ said, hugging Alex.

"They're both totally right. You can't let what a bunch of bitchy girls and guys tell you get to you. They only say things like that because you're more of a free spirit than they'll ever be. And that's the damn truth. It's what we love about you and it's definitely gotta be what's drawn Cody to you. Just be yourself because who you are is totally awesome." Kaitlyn said, hugging Alex as well.

Hearing her friends giving her reassurance had filled Alex with a lot of confidence. Smiling, Alex leapt up from her bed.

"Thanks guys. Y'all are some of the best friends a girl could ever wish for. Now, let's go tell the others I'm ready to go shopping. Maybe I can find an outfit that'll be true to my style." Alex said, hugging each of her friends. As Alex headed down the stairs, AJ and Kaitlyn stopped Candice before they went down themselves.

"Thanks a lot for doing this. Alex really is an awesome friend to have around. And you are doing what we've been working at years for." AJ said, smiling at Candice.

"Yeah. Alex has always helped all of us out. This is just one of the many things that we can do to help her back." Kaitlyn said, smiling as well.

"I can tell. And truthfully speaking, I want to thank you two for shoving her into me on my first day. If that didn't happen, I'd probably be in the clutches of Michelle McCool and her Legion of Doom." Candice said.

"Ugh. That just sounds scary. Well, as long as we stick together, Michelle can just piss off." Kaitlyn said.

"Absolutely. Now, let's go out to where Alex and the other girls are. They're probably ready to go shopping and are wondering what the hell is keeping us." AJ said.

"Good idea. Let's go." Candice said. 'I never that I could be such a huge help to anyone. The fact that Alex seems to be getting more confident in herself because of me is making me feel all warm and fuzzy. It's really awesome and I hope there are more times like this in the future.' Candice thought as she left out of Alex's house.

* * *

"This won't look right on her. It's way too pink." Amy said, holding up yet another dress for Alex to try on.

The girls went back to the mall to try and find the perfect thing for Alex to wear, but so far, their search was coming up empty.

"Alex, do you have anything against dresses that'll be floor-length on you?" Melina asked.

"Melina, we're trying to find the girl a dress to wear on a date. Not to a wedding or a fancy party." Trish said.

"Good point. Never mind Alex." Melina said, putting back a dress she had taken off a rack.

"Guys, I appreciate all of this effort, really I do, I just don't think that we'll find anything in here that'll be right for me." Alex said, looking at some of the dresses herself.

"I wouldn't exactly say that. Guys, I think I may have found the perfect dress." Amy said, smiling.

"Well, don't just leave us hanging Ames. Let's see it." Mickie said.

Amy came forward to the girls revealing a dress that had a black-and-white checkerboard design with black straps. Immediately all of the girls started to gush over how cute they thought it was. Alex, on the other hand, wanted to object, but a death glare from Amy had Alex take the dress and go to a dressing room to try it on. Once Alex came out, she started to clip her bangs away from her face using two barrettes that Trish gave her. As soon as the other girls saw Alex, they all immediately started to gawk at her. The dress fit Alex well enough that the neckline didn't go down too low and the dress stopped a little past her knees. Alex was about to go look at herself in a mirror when Maria stopped her.

"Wait. Before you go check yourself out, I want you to put on these flats I found for you." Maria said, handing Alex a pair of black ballet flats with a flower adorning the toe of each flat.

Taking off her Converses and putting on the flats, Alex then proceeded to the mirror she was headed for. As soon as she saw her reflection, Alex was in shock. At first she couldn't say anything, but when she finally did, all she could manage to say was "Wow. I look so…so…pretty in this."

"Of course you do Alex. You've never stopped being pretty, even after what Michelle did to you. And the fact that you're slowly starting to re-open up to us all is something that we are so thankful for." Maria said, hugging Alex from behind.

"Thanks Ria. And thanks to the rest of you guys too. I just hope Cody will think that I look cute in this." Alex said, smiling and blushing.

"No problemo Alex. And your new outfit will look so much cuter once I give you the perfect accessories to wear with it." Ashley said smiling.

"And once I can help with your hair. I can't wait to wash it and help Jeff give you the perfect dye colors to complement everything." Mickie said smiling.

"_AND_ once we help you with our practice dates and advice, you'll be a wellspring of confidence going on your date." Amy said smiling, along with the others nodding their agreement.

"Thanks again you guys. I'd better go get changed back into my regular clothes so that we can get ready to head back home." Alex said, taking off the flats and handing them to Maria and heading back to the dressing room.

Once Alex was in the dressing room, Candice turned to the others and immediately started talking.

"OK, am I the only one that saw a little glimmer of happiness in Alex's eyes when she showed herself in the dress? She looked so cute I thought I was gonna die." Candice said.

"I saw it too. I hope it'll be able to stay there. Especially with the prospect of Alex either having a boyfriend after Saturday." Melina said smiling.

"You two are so right. Next thing we have to touch base on is the practice dates though. With luck, they'll help Alex not be such a nervous wreck." Trish said.

"Well, as long as she has us to coach her, she won't have a thing to worry about." Amy said.

As soon as Alex came out of the dressing room, she paid for what she picked and left with her friends when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Hey Alex! Wait up!"

Turning around, the girls saw that it was Cody and two other boys coming towards them.

"Hi Cody. What brings you to the mall on a Monday?" Alex asked, blushing slightly.

"Oh. Umm….I was here to try to find something to wear on Saturday when I saw you and your friends. Then I was hit with a sudden realization. I never bothered to give you my cell phone number."

"Oh. OK. Well, here's my phone. Just punch it in and I'll give you my number too."

Once the two exchanged numbers, the girls left after Alex finalized a few things in Cody's phone for her contact information.

As soon as the girls were out of the store, Cody's friends immediately started to tease him.

"Cody, you are such a heartbreaker, you know that right?"

"What could you possibly mean by that Ted? You and Dustin know I've liked Alex since middle school."

"We just mean that by you being near Alex had turned her into a blushing mess. She smiled so much I thought her face was gonna get stuck that way." Ted said.

"I didn't notice. But, Alex is such a cool girl. And I'm just some dork who can't even seem to think straight around her." Cody said, blushing.

"Well, little brother, that's a sign that you are falling hard for Alex and she is falling hard for you. And don't worry. You've always got me and Ted to come to for advice on dating. You'll be just fine on Saturday." Dustin said, patting Cody on the back.

"I hope so Dustin. I hope so." Cody said, smiling as he thought of his upcoming date with the girl of his dreams.

**Read and review. Now that Alex has the perfect outfit for her date with Cody, she just has to get over the hurdling blocks known as 'practice dates'. Will things go smoothly or will there be a hiccup or two? Stay tuned for chapter 11.**

**A huge shout-out to foldintothenight, fuckyeahvodkaandchocolates, RebelInMind13, and fuckyeahimadiva. You guys are all seriously some of the most awesome writers on this site and the best people to talk to. If you're reading my story right now, stop and please go check out their stories. Each story is so freakin awesome & they show that the authors put a lot of time and effort into writing their stories. Again thanks you guys & to those of you reading, check out their stories NOW! You'll love what you read. =)**

**The links for pics of what Alex tries on can be found on my profile page.**


	11. 2 Days Off of School (Part 2)

**After a short wait, I finally got chapter 11 up. With luck, I'll be able to post chapter 12 later today. Anyway enjoy. =)**

"No Alex. You aren't supposed to do that if you see a butterfly. Don't chase it and leave Cody hanging." Amy said.

"Sorry. I guess we have to start again." Alex said, blushing and heading back over to Amy and the other girls.

After the success of finding Alex the perfect things for her date with Cody Saturday Monday, the girls decided to spend all of Tuesday having practice dates with Alex. And so far, things were not going well. It seemed like with each girl, including Candice, Alex always seemed to find some way to get wound up and let her nerves take over. Whether it was something as simple as receiving a compliment from her practice Cody or happening to see an animal like a butterfly or even a cat, Alex had managed to become a stuttering, distracted mess.

"Guys, I'm really sorry I keep getting distracted. Maybe we could try a few more times." Alex said, a pleading look in her eyes.

"You'd better be lucky none of us have built up an immunity to that sad puppy look you have." Amy said, after taking a deep breath.

The girls had to spend some time mulling over different ways that they could set up another practice date when Matt and Jeff happened to come over to where their group was gathered outside.

"This is the cutest thing ever. All of our girlfriends in a group, outside, on a glorious sunny day." Matt said, going to hug Amy.

"It sure is Matty. What are you girls talking about anyway Ria? Movies or something?" Jeff asked, giving Maria a peck on the forehead.

"Well, if you both really must know, Alex has a date coming up soon. And all of today, we've been helping her practice, but we keep hitting dead ends with everything that we've been doing." Ashley said, laying down on the ground.

"Really? Lexi, you got a date with somebody?" Matt asked.

"Yeah Matty. I have a date Saturday and Candice and the others have been giving me practice dates all day. But so far, I keep managing to screw each one up." Alex said, smiling nervously and blushing.

"That's so awesome. Who's the lucky guy that you're going to date?" Jeff asked.

"I'm going to be going on a date with Cody Rhodes. That's why my practice dates have been so disastrous." Alex said, blushing more.

"Ooohhhh. That would explain why you seem so nervous about the practice dates. It must be nerve-wracking considering you're gonna be dating somebody that you _looovvveeee_." Matt said, drawing the word out.

"Wha? That's not true. I don't love Cody." Alex said, blushing even more.

"Yeah. We can totally tell from the way you've turned into a human cherry that you don't love Cody. But really sis, me and Matt are happy for you right now. You must be feeling so happy right now since the guy you've been crushing on since middle school finally asked you out." Jeff said, hugging his younger sister.

"I am. In fact, I'm happier than a girl that just got proposed to right now. But the whole 'I'm going a date' thing is still new to me. Maybe you guys could have a fake date right now and show me how things are done." Alex said, looking at Matt and Jeff with her sad puppy look.

After just looking at Alex for a few seconds, Matt and Jeff immediately decided to lend their help to the girls.

"OK Alex. One of the most important things that a girl can do on a date is show an interest in what the other person is saying. Don't make the whole night revolve around you because that's a major turn-off to a lot of guys. Since you and Cody are like mirror doubles of each other, it shouldn't be all that big of a problem for you two to keep a conversation going." Matt said.

After several more minutes of getting advice from Matt, Jeff, and the other girls and seeing Matt and Amy have a fake date of their own, Alex slowly started to feel like she would be willing to have another practice date.

"OK. I think I'm ready to try the dating part again. I just need a willing person to play Cody." Alex said, looking around at her friends. She noticed that each of them looked tired and was about to ask either Matt or Jeff when Kaitlyn offered to be the practice Cody.

"So I guess we start from when Cody comes to get me." Alex said.

"OK. Hey there Alex. You look so cute in that dress and those flats. Are you ready to go?" Kaitlyn said.

"I sure am Cody. And may I say that you look rather dashing yourself tonight." Alex said smiling.

"Why thank you. Now what would you like to do tonight? Would you like to go eat somewhere or go catch a movie?"

"If it's fine with you, I'd really like to go to the movies. 'The Avengers' just premiered last weekend and I haven't had the chance to see it yet."

"That sounds fine to me. I haven't really been able to see it yet myself, so we can go see it."

After pretending to actually watch a movie and eat somewhere, Kaitlyn and Alex made it to the part in their practice date where Cody would have to bring Alex back home.

"I had a lot of fun tonight Cody. I hope that we can do something like this again in the future."

"I had fun tonight too Alex. I would love to go on another date with you soon."

And just to play up the practice date, Kaitlyn and Alex leaned in and kissed each other on the lips. Once they pulled away, they looked around and saw their friends all staring in awe over how well the practice date went.

"That was so cute Alex." Amy said.

"It sure was. Why couldn't you have been this cute with our other practice dates?" Trish said.

"I guess having Matt and Jeff here sort of helped loosen me up a little. The funny thing is before now, they didn't even know I had a date earlier, so I guess having them know now just helped me loosen up." Alex said, smiling and nervously rubbing the back of her head.

"Well, as long as you use some of that cuteness on your date with Cody and be yourself, things will be fine." Mickie said smiling.

"Thanks you guys. Thanks for helping me with this and being patient with me while I was a nervous mess during the other practice dates." Alex said, hugging each of her friends and her brothers.

"No problem Alex. Just know that whatever you need help with, you can always come to us." Ashley said, smiling.

"I'll be sure to do that Ash. Now let's all head inside. I'm feeling a bit tired." Alex said around a yawn.

* * *

As soon as all of the friends were inside, they decided to watch a movie until it was time for everyone to head home. The movie they all unanimously voted for was 'The Lion King'. Halfway through all of the singing and dancing to the songs in the movie, Alex's phone started to ring. Jeff, who happened to have the remote, paused the movie long enough for Alex to take the call.

'Who's calling you?' Melina whispered.

'It's Cody.' Alex whispered back, a slight blush already creeping onto her face.

Stepping out of the living room, Alex answered the phone a little out of breath. "Hi Cody."

_"Hey Alex. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"_

"No, not at all. I was just watching 'The Lion King' with my brothers and the other girls. What's up?"

_"Umm, I was wondering if, maybe, you'd like to meet up with me in the morning at school? Ted and Dustin really want to meet you, seeing as how they've been teasing me non-stop about me asking you out."_

"Uhh, sure. Just try not to be alarmed if you see all of my friends and my brothers coming with me. They just want to make sure that I'll be fine. What with me being the youngest out of all of us and the one with seemingly the shortest attention span too."

_"I'll be sure to let Dustin and Ted know so that way they won't be in their fight-or-flight modes. They're sorta the same way with me too."_

"I guess there's a reason right there as to why we have this date. We're both kinda ditzy and we've got really cool and protective friends."

_"I guess you're right. I should probably let you get back to everyone. I'll see you tomorrow Alex."_

"OK. See you then Cody."

Alex ended the call and soon after she started to sing a few words from the famous Lion King song 'Hakuna Matata' before heading back into the living room. As soon as she got in there, she happened to notice that everyone in there was smiling widely at her.

"OK. I'm not sure whether to think you guys are all happy zombies or body doubles from 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. Why are you guys smiling so hard?" Alex asked.

"Because we just heard you agree to meet up with Cody tomorrow. It's almost as if you two have a date tomorrow morning." Candice said.

"I-It's not even like that. He just wants me to meet his friends tomorrow. That's all it is." Alex said, blushing.

"No need to blush Alex. Save that cuteness for Cody tomorrow. We'll be right there with you, just in case you need to be pulled out if things get awkward." Candice said.

"Thanks. I just hope that at least tomorrow I won't be a stuttering heap in front of Cody's friends." Alex said.

"Don't worry. These are Cody's friends, right? I'm sure that as soon as they start talking about video games or comic books you'll be chatting up a storm." Candice said smiling.

"I hope so. I just want to make a good impression on them. That's all. Now let's get back to the movie." Alex said.

* * *

By the time the movie finished, the girls decided to leave. After the girls had all left, Alex had decided to head upstairs to shower and go to sleep. Before she could make it to the top of the staircase, she was stopped by Matt and Jeff.

"Alex, we just want to say again that we're really happy for you. Just know that we'll be there for you if things go bad. But knowing you two, they won't." Matt said, climbing the stairs to hug his sister.

"Yeah. We three are always gonna be there for each other no matter what. So just know that if this one date between you and Cody leads to a wedding in the future, we'll gladly be in it." Jeff said, smiling.

"Thanks you guys. And really Jeff, you think just one little date will lead to a wedding? I'm leaning more towards you or Matt getting married before me." Alex said laughing.

As soon as Alex took her shower and was getting ready to go to sleep, she got her rabbit, Jack, and snuggled under her bedsheets. 'Hmm. Mrs. Alexis Hardy-Rhodes. I quite like the ring of that name. It'll be the name of a girl that has stood the test of time and happily married the guy she loves. It's perfect. Just perfect.' Alex thought before she went to sleep, a smile etched on her face.

**Read and review. Now that Alex has gotten over the hurdles of the practice dates, she's heading towards Saturday with a good feeling about her impending date with her crush. All she has to do now is meet Cody's friends at school. Stay tuned for chapter 12. =)**

******A huge shout-out to foldintothenight, fuckyeahvodkaandchocolates, RebelInMind13, and fuckyeahimadiva. You guys are all seriously some of the most awesome writers on this site and the best people to talk to. If you're reading my story right now, stop and please go check out their stories. Each story is so freakin awesome & they show that the authors put a lot of time and effort into writing their stories. Again thanks you guys & to those of you reading, check out their stories NOW! You'll love what you read. =)**


	12. The Big Meeting

**This chapter has a lot of cuteness and a large helping of drama. Read on and enjoy. =)**

Wednesday came and Candice was up early in the morning. She was so excited that Alex was going to have the chance to meet Cody's friends and she was also excited to meet the guy that her friend seemed to be getting so worked up over dating. She didn't know whether to wear something really dressy or just wear casual clothes so she decided on a t-shirt with the characters from 'The Legend of Zelda', a pair of black jeans, and her Converses. Once she was dressed and did everything she needed to do to her hair, she ate breakfast and left, telling her parents and her younger brother and sister goodbye.

On the way out to her car, her phone started to ring. When she opened her phone, she took it out of her pocket and saw that she had gotten a picture text from Amy. She opened it and saw that Amy had sent Candice a picture of her, Maria, and Alex together. Amy was wearing a Metallica t-shirt, cargo pants, and her DC shoes, and Maria was wearing a black t-shirt with a floral design, dark blue skinny jeans, and a pair of black ballet flats similar to the ones Alex bought for her date with Cody, but Candice couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Alex. Alex was wearing a black shirt with a pink heart surrounding the cats from Sailor Moon, a black-and-pink plaid skirt that slightly went past her knees, a pair of black knee socks with pink hearts as the design, and her high-top pink Converses. All Candice could do was gawk especially when she saw that Alex had her bangs pinned away from her face with two pink bow barrettes with skulls on the interior and that Alex was smiling widely.

'OMG! She's so adorable! =D' Candice texted back to Amy.

_'We knew you'd think so. Me and Ria helped choose the outfit ourselves. In fact, aside from me, you, Ria, Matt, and Jeff, we're the only ones that know. We're forcing the others to wait till we get to school to see Alex.' _Amy texted back.

'Just know that the others are probably gonna wanna kidnap her & smother her with so much love she could die. Jk jk LOL I'll see you guys at school.'

After Candice sent Amy the text, she got in her car and proceeded to drive to school. 'Funny, a few weeks ago the idea of going to a new school pissed me off. Now I can't imagine being at any other school.' She thought. As she pulled up to the school and parked her car, she saw Melina waving her over to where she, John, Mickie, AJ, Kaitlyn, Trish, Chris, Daniel, Zack, Ashley, Evan, Derrick, and Punk were all waiting for her and the other five to show up.

"Hey guys. Are you all ready to meet Cody and his friends?" Candice asked.

"Definitely. I'm ready to meet the guy that's making Alex so happy." Trish said, leaning on Chris.

"Same here. I've never seen Alex this happy since after what Michelle did. Plus, there's the added bonus of making more friends." Zack said smiling.

"Speaking of Alex, where is she? Not to mention Matt, Jeff, Amy, and Maria? Are they all late this morning?" Daniel asked, looking around.

"They're on their way. Jeff just woke up late and they didn't want to leave him behind." Candice said, smiling deviously.

"I don't like the look of that smile Candice. Are they planning something?" Ashley asked, looking around.

"No. Nothing like that. In fact, there they are now." Candice said, pointing to Matt's car.

The others moved to try to see Candice and they started to get confused when they Maria and Amy moving to block someone from their view.

"Who's that playing hide-and-seek behind Ames and Ria?" Mickie asked.

"Could be Alex. But why is she hiding?" AJ asked.

"Who kn- Wait a minute. Candice, could this be the reason why you're smiling like the Joker?" Kaitlyn asked, eyeing Candice curiously.

"Maybe. Just be patient you guys." Candice said playfully.

Once Amy, Maria, Matt, Jeff, and Alex made their way over to their friends, Amy and Maria were the first to talk while Matt and Jeff just stood and smiled.

"Good morning everyone. How's your Wednesday been?" Amy asked smiling.

"Cut the foreplay Ames. Is that Alex hiding behind you guys?" Mickie asked.

"Yes. Do you guys want to see her now?" Maria asked, smiling just like Amy.

"Obviously. You guys are killing us here." Everyone, aside from Candice, shouted.

"OK. Behold, a new Alex!" Amy and Maria said, stepping aside so that everyone could see Alex's look.

"Morning everyone." Alex said, smiling shyly at her friends.

At first, no one said anything. They were still taking in the fact that: 1) Alex looked like she was enjoying wearing a skirt, 2) She was wearing pink Converses as opposed to her usual black ones, & 3) She actually had her bangs pinned away from her eyes. They all had identical looks of shock and fascination frozen on their faces as she excitedly talked to Amy, Maria, and her brothers about meeting Cody's friends soon. It wasn't until she really took in the looks all of her friends were sharing that she decided to ask them.

"Are you guys OK? Does this have something to do with what I'm wearing? Because I could always go change into something different." Alex said, worry evident in her voice.

The first person to break the silence was Zack. "Whoa, broski. You look so CUTE!"

"You totally do Alex! Those barrettes are too adorable on you!" Trish said.

"Forget the barrettes! I want those Converses. Pink is the only color in high-tops that I don't have yet!" AJ said, bouncing up and down.

"You can have the Converses AJ. I want that Sailor Moon shirt. It's too cute and I've wanted one just like it forever!" Kaitlyn said.

"You guys like my new look? I almost said no to letting Amy and Ria pin my bangs back." Alex said, blushing.

"Alex, sweetie, we love this new cute look on you like we all love sweets and scaring people on Halloween. So yes, we all do love it." Melina said, smiling.

"Thanks you guys. I just hope that Cody likes it." Alex said, blushing and smiling.

"He will Alex, just don't worry. Now don't we have to go meet up with him and his friends somewhere?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. He said that he, Ted, and Dustin will meet up with us on the school steps." Alex said.

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting any longer. Let's go guys." Mickie said.

* * *

Sitting on the school's stone steps, Cody had been busy talking to Ted and Dustin about what he should do when Ted happened to notice Alex, her brothers, and all of their friends heading towards them.

"Hey Codester, look. It's your future wife." Ted said, pointing in the direction of the incoming group.

"Where? Wait a second. Very funny Ted. We haven't even had our date y- Wait, she's headed here already?" Cody asked, looking around nervously.

"Yeah. I can see her and her brothers and the rest of their group. Do you want to run now or wait until she gets here?" Ted asked jokingly.

"Not funny Ted. What do I do? What do I do? She'll be here soon and I have no clue what to say." Cody said nervously.

"Whoa there little brother. Just calm down and breathe before you pass out from a panic attack. Alex is a lot like you. I noticed that when she said she bought video games and mangas Saturday when we saw her and the other girls at the mall in that dress store. Just be yourself when you talk to her and you won't have to worry about looking like a lovesick fool." Dustin said, patting his younger brother's back.

"I guess you're right Dustin. Just be myself and I won't freeze up." Cody said. 'I can do this. I'm just introducing the girl that I've been crushing on since middle school to my best friend and my older brother. She's doing the same. Nothing will go wrong.' Cody thought, mentally steeling himself.

* * *

As soon as Alex and the others made it to Cody, Ted, and Dustin, Alex was immediately speechless when she was standing in front of her crush and his friends. She didn't really know what to say until Cody cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Good morning Alex. You look really cute this morning. I like what you did with your bangs." Cody said, smiling and blushing while pointing at where Alex had the barrettes pinning her bangs away from her eyes.

"Thanks Cody. Umm, I'd like to introduce you and your friends to my brothers and my friends. Cody, these are my brothers Matt and Jeff, and my friends Amy, Maria, AJ, Kaitlyn, Mickie, John, Melina, Ashley, Candice, Daniel, Derrick, Evan, Zack, Trish, Chris, and Phil, but we all like to call him Punk." Alex said, finishing the introductions.

"Nice to meet you guys. And I'd like to introduce you and your brothers and friends to my best friend Ted and my older brother Dustin." Cody said, finishing his own introductions.

At first things seemed awkward between the two separate groups. Neither group knew what to say until Cody happened to notice Candice's shirt.

"Hey, um Candice, right? Forgive me for staring, but is that a 'Legend of Zelda' t-shirt you're wearing?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, yeah it is Cody. I must seem like the hugest dork ever for wearing it, but I've been a LoZ lover since its Game Boy days." Candice said, smiling and laughing.

"Candice, I told you not to think it makes you dorky for liking stuff like this. I mean, I'm wearing a Sailor Moon t-shirt. Not to mention, AJ's wearing Batman hair clips." Alex said.

"Hey! No one said anything about dragging what each of us is wearing into your little sitch." AJ said, playfully shoving Alex.

"Hahaha. So I guess it'd be a bad thing to mention that Dustin's wearing a 'My Little Pony' t-shirt under his jacket?" Cody asked, laughing.

"Hey now! Last I checked there was nothing wrong with guys liking 'My Little Pony'." Dustin said, laughing.

The whole spectrum of their conversation soon switched from playful joking to talk of comic books. The group seemed so engrossed in their conversation that none of them noticed Michelle, Layla, and the other popular kids standing in front of the stairs.

"Well, well, well. Look at this. Isn't this the cutest thing that you've ever seen, Lay? A whole gathering of freaks and geeks in their natural habitat." Michelle said mockingly.

"I've only seen them on TV. Never before in real life Chelle." Layla said, earning laughs from a large majority of their group.

"Why don't you guys just go fuck yourselves?" Alex shouted, causing the popular kids, her own friends, Cody, Ted, Dustin, as well as several of the students around them to stop and stare at her in shock.

After getting over her initial shock, Michelle started to move towards Alex and said "What did you say, you little creep?"

Standing from her spot on the stairs beside Cody, Alex walked down the stairs, stopping on the bottom step, and said "You heard me Michelle. I said why don't you and your stuck-up friends just all go fuck off somewhere we won't have to see you guys anymore."

"You've got a lot of nerve trying to act big and tough right now, you creep. I can see that the beating we gave you knocked your common sense loose in that twisted brain of yours. Guess I'll just have to knock it back in place." Michelle said, stepping to stand directly in front of Alex.

"Lay even one of those slimy fingers on her and you're gonna be in for a world of hurt McCool." Amy and Trish shouted, standing from their spots on the stairs.

"I'd like to see you freaks even try to touch me. Y'all know good and damn well I've got real strength on my side." Michelle said, as Beth and Natalya stepped forward.

"Oh yeah? Well, we've got strength on our side too." Mickie said as she, Candice, Melina, Ashley, AJ, and Kaitlyn walked down to where Alex, Amy, and Trish were standing.

"We'd just like to see you freaks even try to touch any of us." Layla said, stepping forward as well as several other girls.

When it seemed like things were going to lead to a full-on girlfight in front of the school before classes even began, Matt stepped down to stand in front of Alex and Michelle's boyfriend Nick stepped in front of Michelle.

"Guys, we shouldn't be doing this now. It's best to just forget this mess even happened." Matt said, trying to calm Alex down.

"As much as it pains me to agree, the freak's right. We can't afford to let any of you guys get suspended babe. You know that a suspension before the talent show pretty much is just like backing out of it. Some other time." Nick said, wrapping an arm around Michelle's shoulders.

"Matt's right. Let's just head inside guys. I'm starting to feel sick anyways." Alex said, heading up the stairs and into the school with her friends, her brothers, Cody and his friends following behind her.

* * *

"Alex wait up!" Cody said, as he and the others tried to catch up with Alex who was speed-walking away from them.

Alex didn't seem to be paying any mind to the shouts and pleas of her friends until she was stopped by Amy and Trish grabbing her from behind.

"Let me go you two! I just need to go somewhere and scream or cry or something." Alex said as tears started to flow down her face.

"We're not leaving you alone. Please just talk to us. Why are you crying after finally standing up to Michelle and her clones? We'd think you'd be happy for doing this." Amy said, as Cody and the other caught up to them.

"It's not that. I'm actually happy that I finally stood up to her. I'm just scared out of my mind that she might try and get me for it. What if she tries to finish what she started all those year back?" Alex said, shaking with fear.

"You won't have to worry about that because we're gonna be right by your side to protect you from her and her army of clones." Trish said.

"They're both right Alex. Not to mention you've got me and Ted and Dustin and your brothers and your other friends to protect you from her guy friends too." Cody said, walking to stand in front of Alex.

Looking up to meet Cody's gaze, Alex wiped the tears from her face and said "Really? You're really gonna stand by us against the popular kids?"

"Of course. Alex, at first I only had a mild crush on you. But after seeing you take a much-needed stand against Michelle, it only made me fall deeper in love with you. I couldn't imagine seeing you any other way than you are right now." Cody said.

"Cody…" It was all Alex managed to say before she leaned in and kissed Cody slowly on the lips. It seemed like the world around them was melting away as their friends all just looked on in awe at the sight before them.

"So Dustin. I guess this technically makes us in-laws." Matt said, playfully nudging Dustin.

"It would appear so Matt." Dustin said, nudging Matt back.

Breaking their kiss, Cody looked over at Matt and Dustin and said "For the last time, just because two people like each other does not make them a married couple." as he started to blush.

Meanwhile, the girls went to stand near Alex as they asked her about her kiss.

"Alex that was too cute!" Melina said.

"What was it like? Did you see fireworks when you two kissed?" Mickie asked.

"Guys, I think we should stop suffocating Alex with these questions. But really Alex, what was it like?" Candice asked.

"It….was….AMAZING!" Alex shouted happily as a smile split her face.

As Alex told the girls all about how she felt during her first kiss with Cody, Candice couldn't help but look over and see that Cody was blushing and touching his lips as Ted, Dustin, and the other guys all gushed over how adorable it looked when he and Alex were just kissing. 'Yep. These two really were meant to be together. Saturday has just gotta be perfect for these two.' Candice thought as the bell rang to let everyone know that it was time for first period.

**Like I mentioned earlier, there was cuteness and drama in this chapter. Read and review. Alex's friends took really well to meeting Cody, Ted, and Dustin, and the same went Cody, Ted, and Dustin. It seemed like Michelle and her friends were going to ruin the meeting, but the little argument between the popular kids and the freaks only seemed to help push Alex and Cody closer together. Will Saturday be just as big of a success? Stay tuned for chapter 13. =)**

**********A huge shout-out to foldintothenight, fuckyeahvodkaandchocolates, RebelInMind13, and fuckyeahimadiva. You guys are all seriously some of the most awesome writers on this site and the best people to talk to. If you're reading my story right now, stop and please go check out their stories. Each story is so freakin awesome & they show that the authors put a lot of time and effort into writing their stories. Again thanks you guys & to those of you reading, check out their stories NOW! You'll love what you read. =)**


	13. Suspicions and Fears

**The end of this chapter has angst. I just wanted to give everyone reading a heads-up before you read on. Enjoy.**

The talk of the school seemed to be how Alex had managed to stand up to Michelle. Alex and Candice seemed to notice that during Mr. Cole's class a lot of the students would take fleeting glances at them, then turn around and have a hushed conversation about what happened earlier in the morning. The class was doing group projects on pivotal events in Greek and Roman History and Alex and her friends decided to do their project on Julius Caesar's reign. But their focus was far from their project. They were more concerned about whether or not Michelle and the other popular kids were going to plan some sort of jump attack on Alex.

"Guys, I am scared out of my freakin' mind. What if I get blindsided by Michelle or any of the popular kids? I don't have enough self-defense training to protect myself." Alex said, looking a bit scared.

"We are in quite a bind here. Especially since not all of us have a class with you. Plus you've got all that office aide stuff to handle." Kaitlyn said, thinking out loud.

"We could always make sure one of us walks with you to class. But like Kaitlyn said, there's the whole 'office aide' thing." AJ said.

"Can't you just pull out of them for the day?" John asked.

"I can't. Mr. McMahon said he's going to need all of the office aides, especially since talent show auditions are going on. He doesn't want to run the risk of kids skipping class." Alex said.

"The only thing I can suggest is that you make sure to text us all at least twice every hour. Just to make sure you'll be OK. It may not be the best idea, but it's the only one I can think of for now." Candice said, rubbing Alex's back.

"OK. I'll make sure to remember." Alex said, smiling a little.

Before everyone in class knew it, the bell was ringing signaling the end of first period. Alex and the other freaks were leaving class and it was decided that AJ would walk with Alex to her next class since they both had Drama together. As Candice and Melina were walking to Mr. Adamle's class, all around them people were pointing and whispering about what happened. They were almost to Mr. Adamle's room when they were stopped by the vice principal, Mr. Laurinaitis.

"Excuse me girls, but where do you two think you're headed?" Mr. Laurinaitis asked.

"We're just headed to our English class. Is something wrong, sir?" Melina said.

"It has come to my attention that you two and your group of friends have been causing a bit of trouble. I'd like you both to come to my office when you both have free periods today. I need to have a talk with both of you." he said, before heading to the main office.

Once he left, Candice and Melina made it to Mr. Adamle's class and noticed that Michelle wasn't in her usual seat. A quick sweep of the class showed that she was sitting with Layla on the far side of the room.

"Joy. They're far away from us. Maybe we'll have a peaceful class today." Melina whispered as Candice nodded in agreement.

English went on as Mr. Adamle discussed the due date for the book reports the class had to do. The whole class period, Melina and Candice kept sneaking looks over to Michelle and Layla to see that they had been doing stuff on their phones and paying attention to Mr. Adamle.

'That's weird. Usually Michelle's never this attentive. Something's up.' Candice thought, as she wrote down notes.

Candice and Melina then felt their phones vibrate. When they took them out, they saw that they had gotten texts from Alex, letting them know that she and AJ were chatting with Ashley, Amy, Trish, Dustin, Jeff, and Maria. As Candice put her phone back in her pocket, the bell rang for second period to end. Once Candice and Melina got out of their seats, they decided to part ways with Candice heading to Aerobics and Melina headed to Laurinaitis' office for what they felt was a disciplinary conference.

As soon as Candice got to Aerobics, she got dressed and joined Alex and John where they were waiting for her. Aerobics flew by with the class doing a lot of different stretches and some tae-bo. Soon the students went to the locker room to get dressed, but when Alex and Candice walked in, they got the same treatment that was being given to them all day: girls seemed to want to just stare and talk about them. They got dressed quickly and left to join John to head to the cafeteria for lunch.

The lunch room was no better as everyone in there was clearly talking about Alex and Michelle's altercation. As soon as Alex, Candice, and John got their lunches, they headed to where the other freaks were waiting for them.

"Guys, today's been weird." Ashley said.

"I'll say. It's like everyone in this school's treating us like we have the plague." Evan said.

"It's because of me and what happened this morning. Maybe I should've just kept my mouth closed." Alex said.

"No Alex, no you shouldn't have." Trish said.

"Trish is right Alex. You finally got a little bit of redemption against Michelle and she just can't stand it. You can't help it if the school's acting funny because of it." Maria said, rubbing Alex's back.

"I guess you two are right, but I'm scared out of my mind. I've kept noticing some of the popular kids close to Michelle have been looking at me weird all day. I just can't shake this awful feeling that something's up." Alex said.

"I noticed too. Plus, during second period, I saw her and Layla texting an awful lot on their phones. Do you guys think they're planning something?" Candice said.

"Who knows? But then again this is Michelle McCool and her popular crowd we're talking about. I've seen them plan stuff out before. It takes them forever just to decide where they're gonna park in the mornings." Matt said.

"Matt's got a point. But still, it never hurts to be just a little cautious for a while though." Amy said.

"Finally! I thought I'd never find you guys!" Melina said as she finally made it to lunch.

"Hey babe. Where were you at?" John asked, pulling Melina in for a hug.

"Vice Principal Laurinaitis called me in to talk about what's been going on lately here at school. He isn't gonna punish me, but he is gonna make me serve three days in detention." Melina said.

"And just think, after fourth period, I've got to go to his office too." Candice said, groaning.

"I'm sure you won't get in trouble. If Melina got off scot-free even though she busted Layla's lip open, then I'm sure you'll just get a stern talking to." Punk said, wrapping an arm around Candice's shoulders.

"I guess you're right Punk." Candice said, leaning against Punk's chest.

* * *

Lunch ended and the freaks went their separate ways, with Jeff and Maria walking Alex to the office for her office aide duties.

"Thanks for walking me here you guys. I just hope I'm not stuck on hall monitor patrol." Alex said.

"No problem. And don't worry. Just do what Candice told you to do and text us twice to let us know that you're OK. If something goes wrong, we'll come find you." Jeff said, hugging Alex before he and Maria left for their fourth period classes.

Taking a deep breath, Alex went into the front office and immediately sat her bookbag down before walking to Granny Mae's desk.

"Alex dear, I love your hair. You look so much cuter since you're actually showing your eyes." Granny Mae said.

"Thanks Granny Mae. You wouldn't happen to know what my office aide job is for today, would you?" Alex asked.

"Yes I do. Turns out Mr. McMahon wants you to be hall monitor for this period." Granny Mae said.

Hearing her say the words 'hall monitor' immediately had Alex start to mildly panic, but the minute she saw Granny Mae look at her, she tried to calm down.

"Granny Mae, isn't there someone else that can be hall monitor for today?" Alex asked.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but all of the other aides for this period are busy elsewhere in the school." Granny Mae said.

"Oh. OK. I'd best be heading off." Alex said, smiling nervously.

"Alex, sweetie, is there something on your mind?" Granny Mae asked, worry crossing her face.

"If you really want to know, I took a stand against Michelle for something bad she did to me, but I'm scared out of my mind that she and her friends might plan on trying to get me back over it. Hall monitor was actually the only job I was hoping I wouldn't have today because I'm too scared to be in the halls alone." Alex said.

"I can see why you're scared. Well, you'll have your whistle with you right? All you have to do is blow really hard on it and someone will come help. If not, and I'm not suggesting you do this all the time, pull the fire alarm, that way your attackers won't be able to find you." Granny Mae said.

"Thanks for that advice Granny Mae. I'll head out now. See you at the end of fourth period." Alex said, hugging Granny Mae before she left.

* * *

After sending another text to her friends, Alex was prepared to head back to the office after her check of the halls when footsteps behind her had her looking around trying to find where they were coming from.

'Oh my god! Please don't let this be what I think this is! I should just text the others now and run back to the office." Alex thought as she quickly punched in and sent another text to her friends, alerting them to her situation.

As she was heading back to the office, she heard the footsteps behind her get faster and quicker, so when she turned around to see Kelly walking towards her. Trying to pick up her pace, Alex was jogging to get back to the office until Kelly managed to catch up and throw Alex into the nearby lockers by the back of her shirt. After trying to stand from her initial shot to the back of her head, Alex stood up and saw Kelly standing in front of her, glaring down at her.

"Your friends are careless. The fact that they left you alone was a huge mistake. Now I get to have some fun where me and the others left off." Kelly said, smirking.

Trying to find some way to get away from Kelly, Alex charged forward and tackled Kelly to the ground and proceeded to run, but was tripped and fell to the ground by Kelly grabbing hold of her ankle. Alex then tried to find her whistle when she was hit with the dread realization that she forgot it in the office. She then looked around on the walls and saw that there wasn't a fire alarm in sight. She then felt herself being dragged and when she turned around, she saw that Kelly was dragging her down the hall by her ankle. Alex managed to kick her way out of Kelly's grip and proceeded to stand and take a fighting stance she learned from her martial arts instructor. Kelly then tried to charge Alex again, but Alex managed to catch Kelly and throw her into the lockers.

"You little bitch! Don't think I'll go easy on you anymore!" Kelly said, grabbing Alex by her hair. Alex almost screamed if it weren't for the fact that she already wormed her way out of Kelly's grip, but as soon as she turned around, Kelly caught her with a punch in the jaw. Kelly then began to rain punches on Alex as Alex kept trying to keep her guard up. Alex's attempts were in vain as soon she fell to the ground and Kelly started to kick her in the ribs. Alex started to black out from being hit so many times until she heard whispers of her friends in her mind telling her she could beat Kelly. As Kelly proceeded to kick Alex in the ribs one last time, Alex slid out of the way just in time to watch Kelly's foot collide with the lockers. While Kelly was disoriented, Alex took the time to tackle Kelly and start raining down a few punches of her own. Alex just kept punching until she heard the same whispers pleading with her to stop. Standing, Alex just looked down at Kelly and took out her phone to text her friends to let them know where she was. As she started to walk away, she started to feel dizzy. Before she knew, she felt a pain shoot up the right side of her body and as soon as Alex felt the first wave of pain, wave after wave crashed through her small body as she vomited and then fell over backwards, fainting in the process.

* * *

"I think this is where Alex said she was. She sent this text, like, 15 minutes ago." Zack said, walking with Kaitlyn, Maria, and Derrick.

"I have a feeling she might be-Damn! What happened to Kelly?" Derrick said, as the four came across Kelly laid out in the hall.

"I don't know, but I want to hug whoever did it." Kaitlyn said.

Hearing the voices of four of the freaks had Kelly darting up and looking around.

"Hey losers, where's the youngest in your group?" Kelly spat at the four.

"We're trying to find her, but so help me, if you laid even one finger on Alex, I will fucking kill you." Maria said, stepping up to Kelly.

"Hey guys, look. Someone passed out. Let's go get them to the nurse's office." Derrick said as he, Zack, Maria, and Kaitlyn ran past Kelly.

"Hey, hey kid, are you feeling O-Oh my god! NO! ALEX!" Maria said, screaming as soon as she saw that the student was Alex.

"Alex? Alex! Please wake up!" Zack said, shaking Alex trying to get a response out of her.

"Guys, we should text the others. We have to let them know what happened." Maria said, tears streaming down her face.

Kaitlyn and Zack took care of the texting while Maria and Derrick each tried to pick Alex up and carry her to the nurse's office.

"She had it coming. She should've just kept that damn mouth of her's closed. Now look. She's just like she was in middle school. Broken and bloody." Kelly said, smirking before she headed to the nurse's office.

Fourth period just ended when Candice and the others in Chorus finally checked their phones. Once they read the message they had gotten, their hearts nearly stopped.

_'Everyone it's an emergency. Kelly jumped Alex and she's hurt bad. We have to take her to the hospital. NOW!'_

Heading to the parking lot, Candice and the others ran past Michelle and some of the popular kids to see them smirking. Instead of just try to fight Michelle, Candice just ran with the others to the student parking lot. They ran over to where Matt had parked to see that almost everyone was there and they all had similar looks of anger and sadness on their faces. When Candice was able to see Alex, her heart nearly stopped. Alex looked like she had a lot of bruises on her arms and there was blood running down her forehead. All Candice could do was stand and cry with her friends, but what really hurt her was seeing Cody crying.

"Alex! Alex please be OK! I don't know what would happen if I lost you!" Cody screamed as more tears flowed down his face.

"Guys, standing here and crying won't help Alex heal faster. Me, Jeff, Amy, and Ria are taking her to the hospital. We want you guys to be there when she wakes up." Matt said, trying not to cry.

Everyone unanimously voted to go to the hospital to wait for Alex to wake up. As everyone left the school in a hurry, all Candice could think was 'Why? Why did this have to happen? Alex finally has a string of good luck and then it all just gets blown away? What will it take to end the hold Michelle has over her? Because I'll be damned if I lose Alex.' as tears flowed down her face and she sped towards the hospital in the hopes that Alex would get helped.

**Read and review. It looks like Michelle was able to get some form of revenge against the freaks by taking out Alex again. But little does she and the other popular kids know, they have only started battles they may or may not win. Will the freaks do anything to get revenge? Stay tuned for chapter 14. =)**


	14. At The Hospital

**I've had the idea for this chapter bouncing around for days, so I decided to post it while it's still fresh in my mind. There's a little angst, but there's friendship and cute fluff that outweighs the angst. Enjoy. =)**

Matt and the others managed to make it to the hospital in 45 minutes. They all leaped out of their cars and Amy carried Alex into the hospital. When the receptionist saw a group of teenagers come into the hospital, her initial reaction was to ask if they were trying to skip out on classes, but when she saw Amy bringing in Alex, who looked horrible, the receptionist called for a doctor to come put Alex on a gurney and take her to the back to check her out. All Alex's friends and brothers could do was just stand in the waiting room while their friend and sister was carried back to be examined by the doctors. Once Alex had been taken away, everyone there for her cried quietly for a few minutes. They couldn't believe that something like this was happening again. It was even harder on Matt, Jeff, Maria, and Amy because she was the closest to all of them. After everyone finished crying, they all just sat in the waiting room, awaiting word on Alex's condition. They all made sure to let their parents know what happened and why they had to leave school early in case their parents had gotten calls from the school letting them know they weren't at school.

"Guys, I just hope Alex will be able to pull through this." Trish said.

"We all do Trish. I just don't fully understand why this had to happen to Alex. I mean, she gets beaten senseless in middle school and now in high school too? That's just not right." Derrick said.

"I can't believe this all happened just because she finally stood up for all the years of bullying she's had to deal with though. If only we were in one of the shitty Disney movies where the minute the bullied kid makes a stand for themselves, things just turn into sunshine and gumdrops." Amy said, leaning against Matt.

"I know. But no, we're stuck in a world where bitchy people can't stand to not have attention on them." Maria said.

"All I can say is that Michelle and the other popular kids are gonna have hell to pay once we get back to school tomorrow." Ashley said.

"Guys, I think we shouldn't talk plans of revenge right now. The last thing anyone wants to think about right now are the very people that hurt Alex. We should at least just try diverting our talk into something else. Especially since poor Cody's pacing like a madman." AJ said.

"AJ's right. I vote that we just change the subject to something else. Talking about whaling on the popular kids won't speed up Alex's recovery any." Jeff said, drumming his fingers on a table beside him.

"Hmm, are any of you other guys planning on auditioning for the talent show? So far Candice is the only one to audition." Punk said.

"I'm considering, but I don't know if I'd want to sing a duet piece or a solo song." Mickie said.

Talk slowly moved away from worrying about Alex to which people in their group would audition for the talent show. No one had even noticed that a doctor had come out from the back or that their parents all came to check on Alex. The first person to notice was Zack and once everyone heard the doctor calling for people there for Alex, he was surprised to see so many people step forward.

"I'm Alex's father. Is my daughter OK?" Gilbert said, stepping forward with Matt and Jeff close to him.

"Yes she is, Mr. Hardy. I'm still trying to find out how this happened to her. Do you think any of her friends with you could elaborate a little on what happened?" the doctor asked, looking around.

With some hesitation, Kaitlyn, Derrick, Zack, and Maria stepped forward. "We know, sir. We didn't actually see what happened, but we were actually in the halls trying to find Alex because of a text she sent us." Maria started.

"Then, we came across two people laid out in the hall. One was one of the girls who's a freshman with me, Alex, and some of our other friends." Kaitlyn continued.

"We asked the girl if she had seen Alex, but she doesn't exactly like us, so what she said was kinda sarcastic and snappy." Derrick added.

"And then when we saw the other kid, Maria went over to turn the kid over only for us to see that it was Alex." Zack finished.

"Thanks for telling me this kids. And the way you kids brought Alex in today is like how she was years ago. Thankfully her injuries aren't that serious, but I must say in advance that her left leg is broken. We have it in a cast, but it will have to be in it for about a month." the doctor said.

"As long as Alex is OK. Can we see her?" Jeff asked.

"Not at this moment. She's still sleeping right now because of some of the medicine we gave her, but you can all go back and see her in about 30 minutes." the doctor said.

"Thank you so much doctor." Gilbert said, leaving to join the other parents.

The teens were then left in their own little group to talk about what they just heard.

"OK, now I really want to kick Michelle's ass now." Melina said.

"For the record it was Kelly that did this, not Michelle, so you'll have to use Kelly as your punching bag." Maria said.

"Does it really matter? Payback is payback as far as I can tell." Melina said.

"You'll have to give me a cut of your payback ass-kicking." Amy said.

Candice tried to pay attention to what her friends were saying, but her attention was drawn over to where Cody was sitting. She had never seen Cody look so upset. Taking a breath, Candice walked over to Cody and took the seat next to him.

"How are you holding out Cody?" Candice asked.

"I guess I'm doing OK. I just can't believe that this happened. Michelle just won't be satisfied until Alex isn't even herself anymore." Cody said, holding his head in his hands.

"I can't believe it either. I guess Michelle doesn't think she's all that if she's jealous of Alex." Candice said.

"Huh? Care to elaborate there? You lost me for a minute." Cody said, looking at Candice.

"I'm just sayin'. I mean, did you see the look on Michelle's face when Alex told her off this morning. I only wish I could've taken a picture on my phone. That was a FaceBook worthy moment." Candice said, smiling.

"Huh. I didn't see it that way. Alex does have backbone. That's one of the things I love about her. When she's standing up for something or talking about something she has a passion for, she can't be stopped." Cody said, smiling.

"That's something I love about her too. It's what everyone loves about Alex. And it's because of her passion that we want to help make her happy again. I know I've only been here a few weeks now, but everyone keeps telling me that having me here has helped open Alex up." Candice said smiling.

"And I want to thank you for that. Especially for the day you girls had when I saw Alex in that dress. I never could get the courage to ask her out because her natural attitude just makes me all nervous and lovestruck. So, again thanks. For helping to get Alex to open up again." Cody said, hugging Candice which she returned.

* * *

After several minutes of waiting, the doctor came back telling everyone that they could go see Alex, who was waking up. Trying to be as orderly as possible, all of the people there for Alex went back to see that she was watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants and laughing when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." she called.

As soon as the door opened, Alex was happy to see her friends all there to see her. Before she could even say anything, she was immediately made the center of a huge group hug. She could hear her friends all saying they were glad she was fine, but at the same time, she could hear them all crying a bit. Once the group hug was finished, she decided to say something.

"Guys, please don't cry. You all look like a litter of sad puppies." Alex said, crossing her arms.

"But Alex. You're laying in a hospital bed with a broken leg. How can you not be sad?" Amy asked.

"Because I'm not as roughed up as I was years ago. Plus, I was able to actually stand up for myself, _by myself_. I'm not sure if that's something to be proud of, but I am." Alex said smiling.

"You do have a point. We're all just glad you're OK. We actually thought we'd have to turn into a group of headhunters and go apeshit on Michelle and the other popular kids." Amy said, hugging Alex again.

"Thanks you guys. It means the world to me." Alex said smiling.

"Hey, that's what friends are for." AJ and Kaitlyn said. "After all, you'd do the same for us if we were in here."

"True true. Now how about we lighten up the mood in here? I feel like singing. That is, if you guys wouldn't mind joining in." Alex said.

"Sounds like fun to me. What should we sing?" Candice asked.

"Let's sing _Every Teardrop is a Waterfall_ by Coldplay. I've always liked the beat of that song." Alex said.

"Sure thing. I love that song. Anyone else want to join in?" Candice asked.

"I'll sing." Maria said excitedly.

"Ah what the hell. Count me in." Amy said.

"I'm in too. After all, you girls are gonna need a guy to provide bass." Jeff said, smiling.

"Awesome. Now we just need someone to play the beat." Alex said.

"Taken care of." Dustin said, taking out his phone and playing the basic beat for the song.

Alex, Candice, Jeff, Amy, and Maria decided to sing at the same time as a group while the others danced in the room.

_I turn the music up, I got my records on_

_I shut the world outside until the lights come on_

_Maybe the streets alight, maybe the trees are gone_

_But I feel my heart start beating to my favorite song_

_And all the kids they dance, all the kids all night_

_Until Monday morning feels another life_

_I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time_

_And heaven is in sight, Ooh_

_I turn the music up, I got my records on_

_From underneath the rubble sing a rebel song_

_Don't want to see another generation drop_

_I'd rather be a comma than a full stop_

_Maybe I'm in the black, maybe I'm on my knees_

_Maybe I'm in the gap between the two trapezes_

_But my heart is beating and my pulses start_

_Cathedrals in my heart_

_As we saw, oh, this light_

_I swear you emerge blinking into_

_To tell me it's alright_

_As we soar walls_

_Every siren is a symphony_

_And every tear's a waterfall_

_Is a waterfall, ah_

_Is a waterfall, ah_

_Is a waterfall_

_Every tear is a waterfall, ah_

_So you can hurt, hurt me bad_

_But still I'll raise the flag, Wooh_

_It was a wa-ah-ah-ah-aterfall_

_A wa-ah-ah-ah-aterfall_

_Oh, Oh_

_Every tear_

_Every tear_

_Every teardrop is a waterfall_

_Oh, Oh_

_Every tear_

_Every tear_

_Every teardrop is a waterfall_

_Every tear_

_Every tear_

_Every teardrop is a waterfall_

_Every tear_

_Every tear_

_Every teardrop is a waterfall_

Once the song was done and everyone was talking happily, Candice glanced over at Cody, who was sitting beside Alex with an arm around around her shoulders. She smiled at this visual and was pulled into a hug by Punk, which she returned. It soon came time for everyone to leave, but Alex didn't want her friends or her brothers to leave and none of the teens was ready to leave either. With permission from the doctors tending to Alex and their parents, after they went home and got changed into more comfortable clothes and getting sleeping bags, they all had a camp-out in Alex's hospital room. Once everyone had settled and was getting ready for the night, Candice happened to see Cody crawl in bed with Alex on her right side and throw an arm around her waist. 'Yep. Alex has definitely got backbone. But then again, that's what we love about her.' Candice thought before drifting off to sleep, smiling.

**Read and review. Alex is recovering well, but now she and the other freaks have to face the music at school the next day that is Michelle and the popular kids. How will things play out after Alex's fight with Kelly? Stay tuned for chapter 15. =)**


	15. Alex's Audition

**I got the idea for this chapter from my psycho muses and my overactive imagination. I had fun typing it and I hope you guys have fun reading it. =)**

The next day, Alex was able to be released from the hospital. She had to use a wheelchair though because of the fact that her leg was healing from her fight with Kelly. Her friends helped her out of the hospital, and when she got home, they helped her inside and helped her get ready for another day of school. They all had a feeling that Michelle and the other popular kids were going to be trying to find her, but they just had to focus on helping Alex get around school. The girls helped Alex get changed into another set of clothes, which was a blue t-shirt that had a monster saying 'Hug It Out', a simple pair of black shorts, and just one of her black high-top Converses. Once Alex was dressed and she finished doing what she needed to do to her hair and face, the girls helped get her back downstairs and they all left for school.

As soon as they all got to school, they looked around to notice that everyone was still outside waiting, meaning that the bell hadn't rang yet. The freaks decided to go sit under a big tree and talk about their plan of action for the day.

"OK guys. What are we going to do today?" Matt asked.

"Well, I know one prime directive is going to have to be helping Alex get around school today. She's all over the building so it's gonna be crazy trying to get her everywhere." Maria said, scratching her head and thinking.

"We all have at least one class with her, right? All we have to do is leave a few minutes early and help her get from class to class. Easy as beating a Magikarp." AJ said smiling.

"There's still the whole issue of Alex's student aide duties. Who do we see about possibly pulling her out of those?" Jeff said.

"Hmm….What if one of us steps in for her?" Candice suggested.

"That could work. Alex, what period do you have your student aide stuff?" Amy asked.

"I have it during fourth period. I'm just wondering what has to be done today." Alex said.

"Fourth period. Got it. OK, now who here has fourth period free?" Candice asked, looking around at everyone.

The only ones to raise their hands were Dustin, Ted, and Derrick. So after playing Rock-Paper-Scissors, Derrick lost to Dustin and Ted. So he agreed to take over Alex's student aide jobs if she could give them to him. As soon as the bell rang, everyone went inside. But when they came to the steps, instead of trying some crazy way of getting Alex up the steps, Cody lifted Alex up and carried her bridal-style up the steps while Matt brought her wheelchair up and Jeff carried her bookbag. Once at the top, the freaks let Alex head inside first with all of them filing in after her.

"Thanks for doing that Cody. You're such a gentleman." Alex said, smiling and blushing.

"You're welcome Alex. My dad raised me to always be polite and help a lady when she needed it the most. And now seems like a time when you need help." Cody said, smiling and blushing hisself.

'Lovebirds.' Dustin mouthed, pointing at Alex and Cody, who were hugging each other at that moment.

Candice looked over at Alex and Cody and, discreetly taking out her phone, took a picture of them together. She showed it to everyone, who all smiled at the picture. Soon they all took off heading their separate ways. By the time Candice, Alex, AJ, Kaitlyn, John, and Melina made it to Mr. Cole's class, they got in with just seconds to spare before the tardy bell rang. Since Alex couldn't get to her desk, she wheeled her chair next to AJ's desk and sat next to her for the period. While Mr. Cole droned on in a lecture about important milestones in Greek history, Candice couldn't help but look over at Alex, who appeared to be drawing something on a piece of paper. Since Candice was right next to AJ, she tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at Alex, telling her to try sneaking a peek at what she was drawing. Candice saw out of the corner of her eye AJ sneakily lean over and look at what Alex was drawing. AJ then leaned back towards Candice and, grinning, told her she was drawing a picture of two people hugging and kissing, which caused Candice to smile. When first period was close to being over, AJ and Alex asked for permission to leave early, which they got. After they left, Candice felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around in her seat to see that it was Melina.

"What were you and AJ whispering about?" Melina asked.

"Nothing serious. I saw Alex drawing and I wanted to know what it was. So I just asked Alex to lean over and look and she told me Alex was drawing a picture of two people hugging and kissing." Candice said smiling.

"Aww. That's so cute. I'll bet I know who she was thinking of while she was drawing it too." Kaitlyn said smiling.

"Such a wonderful thing this is. Our little Alex is so lovestruck it's starting to show in her art. I'm so proud." John said excitedly.

"We all are. Cody's such a nice kid." Candice said smiling.

The bell soon rang for first period to end and Candice and Melina left, heading for English. Once they got to class, they saw Michelle and Layla come in, glaring daggers at them, which Candice and Melina returned. During class, Candice kept peeking over at Michelle and Layla to see them talking to each other and reading texts in class. She wasn't so worried because, as far as Michelle and the other popular kids knew, Alex wasn't at school for the day. When the bell rang for second period to end, Candice and Melina sped out of Mr. Adamle's room and headed straight for the gym. Once they made it there, they saw John and Alex talking and decided to join them.

"Hey guys. Sorry if we're a bit late getting here." Melina said, sitting beside John and hugging him.

"It's fine. We don't have to work out today because of the fact that they're doing work in here for the talent show next month. Speaking of which, I still need to do something to audition." John said.

"Well, I already auditioned and Maria and some of the others said they might audition." Candice said.

"I might audition too. I'm pretty good at singing and dancing." Melina said.

"How about you Alex? Are you gonna audition?" Candice asked.

"Nahh. Stuff like that isn't really my cup of Mountain Dew Voltage." Alex said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Aww, why not? You were awesome when you sang that Coldplay song yesterday at the hospital." Melina said.

"It's not so much I have a problem with singing, it's just that I _may_ have a few touches of stage fright." Alex said, blushing.

"Stage fright? But I don't get it. You're in drama, so how can you have stage fright?" John asked.

"It's one thing to act in front of large crowds. At least then I'm so in character that I don't even pay attention to the crowd. It's just, I tried one time, but I got so embarrassed I stuttered through the song and I hurled a little." Alex said, blushing.

"Oh. I can see how that can be a problem. Well, don't worry. We won't force you to do something you don't want to do. Just audition when you feel like it and we'll do our best to help you beat your stage fright." Candice said, John and Melina nodding in agreement.

"Thanks guys." Alex said, smiling and hugging Candice.

The bell rang after some time for the end of third period for everyone to go to lunch. Once Alex and the other freaks got to the cafeteria, they got their lunches and went to their usual table. They were the first ones there until their friends slowly started to filter in, with Cody, Evan, Zack, and AJ being the last four to come in.

"Sorry we're so late guys. Ms. Norden was hellbent on keeping us in Pre-Cal." Cody said, sitting beside Alex and hugging her.

"It's no big deal. We've just been eating, so you guys haven't missed any of our roundtable geek debates." Kaitlyn said, laughing.

"Good thing too. I've been meaning to ask around to see who's been following along with Arrow. It's so awesome so far." Evan and AJ said, earning laughs from their friends and a blush from the two.

"That reminds me. Cody, I drew you something during first period." Alex said, digging through her bookbag looking for her sketchbook.

"What's Alex trying to find exactly?" Punk and Maria asked, whispering.

"I think it's this drawing Alex did of two of her own self-thought anime characters. It's so cute. She colored it in so well." Candice and AJ whispered back, smiling.

"Here it is. Cody, I know our date is in two more days, but I wanted to draw you a little picture." Alex said, blushing and handing Cody the drawing.

When Cody took a look at it, he was amazed. There was a lot of attention to detail and the coloring looked professional. At first he was speechless, but then he said "Alex. My god. I love this. Thank you. It's making me think of you and I together." Cody said, pulling Alex in for a hug which she returned.

"Aww!" everyone at the table said together.

"Whatevs you guys. We know you all love us." Alex said laughing.

"We do Alex. It's just you two look so adorable together. You both are perfect for each other." Amy said smiling.

"Thanks Ames. Weirdly enough, I don't feel like being cooped up in here. Let's go sit outside until it's time to head to fourth period." Alex said.

"Good idea. Being cramped up inside like this is starting to make me feel tense. Especially with it being such a nice day outside." Mickie said.

The freaks decided to head outside and enjoyed the rest of their lunch period talking about Arrow and Green Lantern until it was time to head inside. They managed to find a ramp so that Alex could wheel herself back inside, but once all of the freaks were back inside, they came face-to-face with Michelle, Layla, and the other popular kids.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here guys. It's our little punching bag." Michelle said, smirking at Alex.

"Well, well, well. Look guys, it's the beanstalk I used for a punching bag yesterday." Alex said, smirking and pointing at Kelly.

"You got lucky. Kelly was having an off day and she wasn't focused, but I can tell she did damage enough to you." Michelle said, pointing at Alex's leg in the cast.

"Don't worry about this. It'll heal up in no time." Alex said.

"Whatever. Well, we just wanted to say that we all auditioned for the talent show and, obvious to say it, we're all participants now." Michelle said, smirking.

"Good for you. Now why don't you go tell someone who actually cares?" Alex said.

"That's an awful lot of big talk coming from someone that can barely make their way through a song without either stuttering or puking." Michelle said, earning laughs from her friends.

"Well, just so you know Alex is an awesome singer. You've just never had the honor of hearing her sing. Well, you have Michelle. Or have you just forgotten?" Ashley and Trish said, earning similar responses from the other freaks.

Hearing them say that caused Michelle to get pale. "I haven't forgotten and I just realized that Alex is a detriment to even have in the contestant pool." she said.

"Oh really? What makes you say that? It couldn't be because of the fact that Alex has a voice like an angel's, would it?" Amy said, smiling evilly.

"Michelle, is what they're saying true?" Layla asked.

"It is. She's not better than us, but she's pretty damn good. That's why we have to stop her before she can audition." Michelle said, stepping towards Alex.

Seeing the looks on the faces of Michelle and the other popular kids had Jeff thinking of an idea. When he finally got one, he grabbed the handles of Alex's wheelchair and said "Sorry sis." Before Alex and the others could question what he was doing, he pushed Alex forward and started shouting "Roll Alex! Roll like the wind!" before running off.

"Don't let her get away!" Michelle shouted, as she and her group split up trying to catch Alex.

"You won't be able to lay a finger on Alex, McCool!" Amy and Mickie shouted before the freaks split off, chasing the popular kids down who had the intent of trying to stop or hurt Alex.

Before any of the other students knew it, there was a schoolwide chase happening between the freaks and popular kids. Melina was running with John and Zack when she bumped into a tall person.

"Whoa there Mel. Where's the fire?" the person asked laughing.

"Dave, it's Alex. Michelle and the other popular kids are trying to stop her from auditioning for the talent show and we're trying to stop them." Melina said.

"Hold the phone. Melina, would you care to explain how exactly it is that you know 'The Animal'?" John and Zack asked.

"Oh, I never told you guys? That was rude of me. Anyway, Dave's my twin brother. Kinda hard to believe, but we're twins." Melina said smiling.

"We'll have time to grill you later about this. Now we have worry about making sure Alex can make it to an audition room in one piece." John said.

"Right. Dave, would mind helping us out?" Melina asked.

"Sure thing." Dave said, before they resumed their search.

* * *

Alex had managed to wheel herself close to the Chorus room. She was nearly there when she heard voices behind her.

"I think she went this way."

"She can't hide forever. Wherever she's hiding, she'll have to come out from there soon. After all, the little creep can't bear to miss a class."

Instead of wheeling out to confront whoever was saying those things about her, she was soon pulled into a closet. She almost screamed until a hand covered her mouth. As soon as her pursuers were gone, the people in the closet with her turned on the lights, revealing themselves to be Matt, Trish, Zack, and Kaitlyn.

"For god's sakes you guys! I could've had a heart attack!" Alex said.

"Good thing you didn't. Cody would be devastated if that happened." Trish said.

"You're right. Thanks. I'm in no shape to try to defend myself." Alex said.

"No problem. Now, let's get you to Mrs. Garcia's room. We know that's where you were heading." Kaitlyn said, opening the door.

"Thanks again you guys. I just hope-" "There she is!" Alex was interrupted by Layla shouting behind her. Alex had nearly managed to get away while Matt and the others held off the popular kids trying to stop her until she was sent flying out of her chair.

"You won't get away that easily." Layla said, lifting her foot to stomp Alex.

Just in time, Alex managed to trip Layla and, utilizing skills no one knew she had, she managed to do a handstand and proceeded to move forward quickly using her feet like hands. 'I'll have to remember to thank Vladimir when I see him again.' Alex thought as she sped forward. Layla was dazed until she saw Alex getting closer to the Chorus room. She had only managed to get on her feet by the time Alex had got to the door. Alex then used one of her feet to kick on the glass like she was knocking. At first when Mrs. Garcia came to the door, she thought no one was there and almost closed the door until Alex shouted "Wait Lillian! Down here!" Mrs. Garcia looked down to see Alex on her hands and then up at her legs to see that one was in a cast.

"Alex, dear. What happened? Is everything fine?" Mrs. Garcia said, helping Alex inside.

"Everything's fine, but I was wondering if I could audition for the talent show?" Alex said, once she was sitting.

"Sure, but are you positive that you want to do this?" Mrs. Garcia asked.

"I'm sure. I want to do this quickly though." Alex said.

"OK. Which song would you like to sing?" Mrs. Garcia asked.

"I want to sing 'Titanium' by David Guetta. It's actually starting describing how I'm feeling right now." Alex said, smiling.

"OK. You can start now." Mrs. Garcia said, starting the song.

Taking a deep breath, Alex soon began to sing.

**You shout it loud, but I can't hear a word you say**

** I'm talking loud, not saying much**

** I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet**

** you shoot me down, but I get up**

** I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose**

** fire away, fire away**

** ricochet, you take your aim**

** fire away, fire away**

** you shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** you shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** Cut me down, but it's you who'll have further to fall**

** Ghost town and haunted love**

** Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones**

** I'm talking loud, not saying much**

** I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose**

** fire away, fire away**

** ricochet, you take your aim**

** fire away, fire away**

** you shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** you shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** I am titanium**

** I am titanium**

** Stone hard, machine gun**

** Fired at the ones who run**

** Stone hard, as bulletproof glass**

** You shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** You shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** You shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** You shoot me down, but I won't fall**

** I am titanium**

** I am titanium**

Once Alex finished, Mrs. Garcia started to applaud her.

"That was amazing Alex. What ever possessed you to want audition in the first place?" Mrs. Garcia asked.

"Let's just say I've got some really awesome friends and brothers who encouraged me to give it a chance." Alex said smiling.

Mrs. Garcia opened her mouth to say something else, but at that moment, Michelle burst through the door, followed by Candice, AJ, Evan, Daniel, Derrick, and Chris.

"Mrs. Garcia, I have something important to say." Michelle said, in between pants.

"What is it Michelle?" Mrs. Garcia asked.

"Alex said she doesn't want to be in the talent show at all." Michelle said.

"Really? Because she just finished her audition and she signed up. She's an official contestant now." Mrs. Garcia said, causing Michelle to get pale and Candice and the others to start cerebrating.

"That's great. I can't wait to see her perform." Michelle said through gritted teeth.

"Sure is. I'm positive she might even give you and your friends a run for their money." Mrs. Garcia said, earning a wave of cheers from her friends.

"I'm excited myself. Now I can think of songs I want to sing now. I can't wait to hear you sing either Michelle." Alex said, winking at Michelle and causing the blonde to turn and leave.

After Michelle left, the freaks present went to Alex and started to congratulate her and ask questions. When she finished answering them all, her friends gave Alex a group hug, which she accepted.

"Thanks for helping me guys. I feel so great right now." Alex said smiling.

"How good do you feel right now?" Chris asked.

"To put it in words from the song I just sung, I am titanium." Alex said.

"We're just so proud of you right now. Just wait till Cody hears." Candice said.

"Do you think Cody will be proud of me?" Alex asked, blushing.

"Sweetie, if we're proud of you, Cody just might have to resist his urges to propose to you after hearing this." AJ said smiling, earning a playful shove from Alex.

"Whatever you want to say that helps you sleep at night. Now could one of you guys be a dear and help me get to my wheelchair? You wouldn't believe how I had to get here." Alex said.

"Don't worry Alex, we got you." Daniel and Derrick said.

As they helped Alex back into the hall to her chair, Candice couldn't help but smile. Alex had auditioned for the talent show, despite her stage fright, and she made a huge leap in her relationship with Cody. She actually couldn't wait for school tomorrow. All she wanted now was to spend more time with her friends making their plans for the talent show.

**Read and review. Alex has just auditioned for the talent show, giving Michelle and the other popular kids something to worry about. Now the freaks just have to help Alex with her stage fright issues. Will Alex be able to swallow them before the talent show comes? Stay tuned for chapter 16. =)**


	16. Alex's Date

**This chapter is possibly one of the cutest chapters I've typed for this story. My muses contributed to the writing of this, so I hope you guys enjoy. =)**

The rest of the week went by rather uneventfully. After the little incident between the freaks and the popular kids, all of UPHS seemed to be abuzz about what happened yesterday as far as the schoolwide chase goes. It seemed to be a shocker to everyone that Alex actually wanted to audition and sing a song, but everyone was silently hoping that either she or any of the freaks in the talent show would be able to upstage Michelle and the popular kids. Friday seemingly crept up on everyone and before Alex knew it she was going to have to prepare for her date with Cody Saturday. While she was at home Friday night, she decided to have a mass phone session with the other girls.

"Guys, it has now hit me like a speeding train that my date with Cody is tomorrow. And I'm freaking out." Alex said as she got out of her wheelchair and laid down on her bed.

_"Why do you seem so nervous? You seemed so ready a few days ago."_ Mickie said.

"Because I have no clue what I'm going to do. I'm going to need help getting ready for it and then there's the whole issue of what to do once we get to our date place." Alex said.

_"Well, you've been passing the practice dates with flying colors." _Amy said.

_"Not to mention we said that we would do our best to help you get ready for it."_ Melina said.

"I know all that, but I'm still a ball of nerves. I mean, most of you guys have actually been on dates before and this is my first one. What if I do something to embarrass Cody?" Alex asked.

_"No need to panic Alex. Cody seems just as nervous about this as you do. I seriously think he's not worried about _you _embarrassing _him. _In his mind, it's the other way around." _Trish said.

_"Trish is right Alex. I mean, you should've seen him in Ms. Norden's class. He looked like he was thinking really hard about something and then when I looked over at a piece of paper he was writing on, it looked he was writing something, but kept scribbling it out. Isn't that right AJ?" _Kaitlyn asked.

_"Kait's right Alex. I even heard him mumbling something at one point during Pre-Cal. Something about hoping he wouldn't screw things up." _AJ said, in the background.

"Really? He's worried about screwing things up too?" Alex asked amazed.

_"See Alex? You've been worrying about nothing. You really should learn to try and cut loose every now and then. If not, you'll end up with a head full of gray hairs."_ Ashley said, jokingly.

_"Ash's right. Not to mention with the help of all of us, you'll be a picture of confidence come Saturday." _Maria said.

_"That's right Alex. As long as you have us and everyone else wishing you luck, things will go fine." _Candice said.

"Thanks you guys. You guys really are some of the best friends a girl could ever want. When do you all think you'll be able to come over to help me get ready?" Alex said.

After getting a round of answers from her friends, Alex decided to end the call and go to sleep. 'Just a few more hours and I'll be getting ready for one of the biggest days of my life. I hope things go well.' Alex thought before she drifted off into a restful night's sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Alex was awoken by what felt like two pairs of hands shaking her. When she sleepily jerked up in bed and looked at who shook her, she was a bit surprised to see that it was Amy and Maria, standing at the foot of her bed smiling widely at her.

"Morning you two," Alex said, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes.

"Morning Alex. Ready for today?" Amy said, sitting down on Alex's bed and hugging her.

"Today? What are you talking abo-Ohmygod! My date with Cody is today!" Alex said, with a sudden realization remembering what day it was.

"Sure is. And we've come to help with prep work for you," Maria said smiling.

"You guys aren't gonna make me look like a whore, are y'all?" Alex asked.

"Of course not! What kind of friends would we be if we allowed the baby of our group to go out on a date with a dashing young fellow, looking like a common tramp?" Amy said.

"You guys'd be the biggest assholes of friends a person could ever have." Alex said, moving to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Well, thank all of your lucky stars that we aren't assholes. Now come on. We're all gonna eat something first and then we'll wait for the other girls to get her to help you get ready," Maria said, helping Alex out of bed and into her wheelchair.

Alex, Maria, and Amy went to the kitchen to eat breakfast and were greeted with the sight of Matt and Jeff running around, making breakfast.

"Matt, I don't think you're supposed to use molasses when you make omelets," Jeff said.

"But this will give them some extra flavor," Matt insisted.

"Well, use it on your own. Don't corrupt the other ones," Jeff said.

"Fine fine fine. But you have no clue what you're gonna be missing out on," Matt said, sticking his tongue out earning a thump on his nose by Jeff.

"Would you drama queens stop arguing about how to do something as simple as making eggs? It makes us girls look drama-free," Amy said laughing.

"Matt started it. I mean, people seem to think just because I'm an artist that means I'm supposed to try to flex creativity everywhere, but Matt's the one that keeps trying to jazz up the omelets we're slaving away to make for everyone," Jeff said, pointing at Matt.

"This coming from the one that almost made us some of your 'world famous' blueberry pancakes. I think I'm still digesting the ones you made last month," Matt said, rubbing his stomach.

"Well excuse the hell out of me. But how was I supposed to know that you aren't supposed to use toothpaste and popcorn kernels in pancake mix?" Jeff asked, raising his hands defensively.

"Because, Skittles, everyone knows you can't serve unpopped popcorn kernels to people to eat. It's just a recipe for disaster," Maria said, walking to kiss Jeff on the cheek.

"And we all know that now," Amy said, walking to hug Matt.

"What is this? 'National Make Fun of Matt and Jeff's Cooking Skills Day' or something?" Jeff asked, laughing.

"It's nothing like that, bro. And if it makes you feel any better, I only puked once after I ate the pancakes you made me," Alex said, wheeling herself forward to hug Jeff.

"Well, thank you so much, Lexi. See? At least someone appreciates bold and revolutionary cooking," Jeff said, while everyone else laughed.

After Matt and Jeff finally finished cooking everything, everyone sat down to eat when Gilbert came inside.

"Morning Daddy," Alex said, after swallowing her mouthful of food.

"Good morning dear. What are you doing up right now? Usually on the weekends, you tend to sleep in a little late," Gilbert said, ruffling Alex's hair.

"I'd probably still be in bed, but I had the strangest feeling that _two people_ were shaking me while I was sleeping," Alex said, pointing to Amy and Maria, who smiled innocently and batted their eyelashes.

"Well, I think it's a good idea that Amy and Maria woke you up early. From what I hear, you've got a date today with Dusty Rhodes' son Cody," Gilbert said.

"What?! How'd you find out daddy?" Alex asked.

"Matt and Jeff told me after you went to sleep. They were so proud that you've finally found a boy who's kind and caring and chivalrous too. I hope you kids have fun today," Gilbert said, hugging Alex.

"I hope so too. He's coming over to pick me up around 5:00 today, which is enough time for Amy, Maria, and the other girls to come and give me a crash makeover," Alex said.

"I've been meaning to see old Dusty again. I think I might try to call him and see if he wants to fish later," Gilbert said.

"Cody did say his dad was coming with him over here to talk with you. So are his brother Dustin and his best friend Ted. I'm sure you both can do something while the house is in chaos," Matt said.

"Good idea. Until then, I'll be taking a nap. And girls, try not to do anything to destroy the house. I'm still amazed it's in one piece after Jeff and Phil's last argument," Gilbert said, before leaving the kitchen.

As soon as Alex, Amy, and Maria had finished eating, they left to begin getting Alex ready for her date. The first thing they did was help her take a bath and wash her hair, and while they were doing this, the other girls had started to show up, as well as the other guys. Once they were finished with Alex in the bathroom, Amy and Maria made sure to cover her before wheeling her to her bedroom, where the other girls were all waiting.

"It's about time you guys finished up. Now we just have to help with everything else," Melina said, helping Alex dry off.

Once Alex was dry, Mickie took on the task of drying her hair so that she and Ashley could work on it. Meanwhile, Amy, Maria, Trish, AJ, Kaitlyn, and Candice all went around Alex's room, getting out her dress, her shoes, and all of the needed accessories to complete her look. The whole time this was going on, Alex was blushing wildly at the fact that all of her friends were running around like crazy people to help her get ready for her date.

The girls had spent two hours just getting Alex into her dress and choosing what they wanted her to wear to accessorize with the dress, eventually deciding on a few bead bracelets on her right wrist and a purple bracelet with a peace sign charm and a simple wristband with a black-and-white checkerboard design on her left wrist. They also decided to give Alex a pair of earrings to wear with charms shaped like stars. Ashley and Mickie had finished drying and straightening Alex's hair and were putting the finishing touches on some pink and purple streaks they had dyed into her hair. All that had to be done was for Maria and Melina to pin Alex's bangs away from her eyes and do her makeup when they were interrupted by Chris and Evan coming in to check on the girls.

"Hey Trish. Can you give me your keys? I bought my Wiimotes and Matt and the others want to play-Whoa." Chris said, after seeing Alex's nearly finished look.

"Chris? Can you move? I was going to see if AJ had remembered to bring-Oh my god!" Evan said in shock after seeing Alex.

Neither of the guys had ever seen Alex look so girly ever before, so seeing her sitting in her chair in a dress, flats, and matching accessories had them speechless.

"Babe, I gave you my keys. They're in your pocket, see?" Trish said, pulling her car keys out of Chris's front pocket.

"I think two of our guy friends are reeling over seeing Alex. If I hadn't had a hand in helping, I'd be slack jawed right now too," Candice said, brushing down Alex's hair.

"Trust me, I'm doing more than reeling right now. I think I'm seeing an angel in a wheelchair," Chris said, stepping towards Alex.

"Hold it right there rockstar! Before you even want to think about hugging her, you'll have to wait just a few more minutes. Me and Maria still need to finish her makeup," Melina said.

"OK. We'll be back with the others. And heads-up girls, Cody, Dustin, and Ted are here already. Don't worry. We haven't frightened them off, just so you know," Evan said, before he and Chris left Alex's room.

"Now that they're gone, let's go back to what we were about to do before we were so rudely cut off," Melina said as she and Maria moved back to Alex. Melina was busy combing Alex's bangs away from her face and once she had them combed back the way she wanted, she had Maria hand her two hair barrettes with matching checkerboard designs. Once Melina had finished, Maria took over with applying makeup. She put a little eyeliner on Alex and then used a bit of black eyeshadow that had flecks of glitter in it that sparkled when they caught the light. The last thing she did was put lip gloss on Alex and use a bit of blush that was flecked with glitter that sparkled when it hit the light. As soon as Maria finished and stepped back, she, along with all of the other girls in the room, gasped at the sight of Alex before them. To the girls, Alex had always been a cute kid, but the fact that she went from looking like a scruffy teen to a teen model with their help had them all smiling and tearing up with happiness.

"Well guys, how do I look?" Alex asked, nervous and excited.

"Why don't you see for yourself hun?" Candice said, helping Alex wheel herself to the big mirror in her room.

As soon as Alex had stopped in front of the mirror, she was shocked to see her own reflection. She marveled at everything her friends did, from the streaks of pink and purple in her hair to the makeup on her face to the dress that fit her just right down to her flats. She had never thought of actually looking as pretty as her friends or even as pretty as the popular girls at school. She was so in shock of how she looked that she didn't even realize she was crying until she saw Candice hug her and heard her telling her to stop crying. She wiped her face and thanked all of her friends, who hugged her before helping her out of her room. The girls were helping Alex to the living room with the boys when AJ and Trish had an idea.

"Guys, let's hide Alex behind us and surprise the guys," AJ said.

"Good idea AJ. Trish, you, Melina, and Mickie go on ahead and get the guys ready for her. We'll be up soon," Amy said, grinning.

Trish, Melina, and Mickie nodded, going ahead to the living room to see that the boys were all playing Michael Jackson: The Experience on the Wii. John was sitting and joking when he saw the three girls standing and smiling about what they were seeing. Once John had let the other guys know, they paused the game long enough to talk to the girls present.

"Hey you three. Where are the others? Last we heard, there were no sounds of girly things coming from Alex's room," Punk said.

"That's exactly why we came here," Trish said, stepping aside.

"Fellas, get ready to see-," Melina said, stepping aside as well.

"Alex prepared for her date!" Mickie said happily stepping aside.

The guys didn't think the girls were being truthful until Alex had wheeled herself into the living room. At first, no one knew what to say. They were frozen with similar looks of shock and happiness until Jeff walked over to his sister.

"Alex? Is that really you?" Jeff asked.

"Of course it's me Skittles. Who else would I be?" Alex said, shoving Jeff playfully.

"I'm sorry for asking like that, but I've never seen you look so adorable ever. Well, maybe when you were younger, but right now, I'm tempted to date you myself," Jeff said, hugging Alex.

"Well, thanks for the compliment Nero. What about the rest of you guys? How do y'all think I look?" Alex asked.

"Do you even need to ask darlin'? You're positively adorable!" Matt said.

"Absolutely! Cody, I think I might have to steal Alex from you," Ted said, nudging Cody.

"Not funny Ted! But Alex, what everyone's saying is true. I think you look cute. No wait. Not just cute. I think you look absolutely beautiful," Cody said, walking to stand in front of Alex.

"Thanks guys. And thanks Cody. I think you look very handsome yourself," Alex said, smiling and blushing as she took in what Cody was wearing. He was wearing a black, red, and white button-down shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans, and a pair of solid black Converses.

"Thanks. So should we leave now? I want to get started with what I have planned for our date tonight," Cody said, smiling.

"Sure, let's go. We'll see you guys later. Wish us luck," Alex said as she and Cody left with all of their friends coming out to see them off.

* * *

"Wow. I can't believe 'The Avengers' had such an awesome ending. That fight between the Hulk and Loki was so sick," Alex said, gushing after they left the second movie they had seen for the night.

"I had a feeling that you'd like it. I think that last fight was the coolest part of the whole movie. Well, next to Iron Man nearly dying," Cody said.

"I know. I almost forgot that part. I'm still reeling over how cool Resident Evil: Retribution was too. I'm really having a good time, Cody. It's like you knew exactly what we'd have fun doing," Alex said, smiling up at Cody.

"Well, you know me. I just had to keep in mind that you're just as big of a geek as I am, so I decided we'd do things that geeks love. Now, we just have to move on to part two. Consider this next part a gift from me to you," Cody said, helping Alex out of the movie theater and back into his car.

Alex didn't know where Cody had planned on taking them, so she was a bit surprised to see that he had stopped at a karaoke restaurant. She suddenly started to feel nervous, so when Cody looked over and saw Alex start to fidget a bit, he got a little worried.

"Hey Alex. Is everything OK?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't thinking I'd have to sing tonight at a karaoke place," Alex said, blushing.

"Well, you aren't going to sing. This is my gift to you: I'm going to sing for you," Cody said smiling.

"Really? That's so sweet of you Cody," Alex said smiling as well.

"Thanks. Now let's head inside now. I want to get us seats close to the stage so that you can see when I sing for you," Cody said, helping Alex out of his car and inside.

Once the two stepped inside, they were greeted with the sight of people cheering on one of the kids from their school who was finishing singing _Pound the Alarm _by Nicki Minaj. Cody signed in to perform while Alex was busy looking around, taking in everything that was there, from the bar area filled with teens to the stage that went out into the audience area to the colored lighting inside. They soon went to sit down and order something to eat while they watched other people go onstage and sing. Soon it was time for Cody to go up and perform and Alex gave him a hug while wishing him good luck.

"So Cody, what song do you feel like singing tonight?" the DJ working for the night asked.

"Well, I'm here with a really lucky girl who has my heart so I want to sing a song that describes perfectly how I feel about her. I want to sing _Just the Way You Are _ by Bruno Mars," Cody said, smiling at Alex, who was blushing and smiling.

"OK. For the lucky girl here, enjoy this," the DJ said, starting the song.

While the song was still starting, Cody was taking deep breaths to calm hisself down. Then when the song picked up, he started to sing.

_**Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining  
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying  
She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day**_

**Yeah, I know, I know, when I compliment her she won't believe me**  
**And it's so, it's so, sad to think that she don't see what I see**  
**But every time she asks me do I look ok, I say**

(While Cody sang this part, he hopped off the stage and walked over to lift Alex's face up to look him in the eye.)

**When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change**  
**Cause you're amazing, just the way you are**  
**And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while**  
**Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are(yeah)**

**Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she let me**  
**Her laugh, her laugh, she hates but I think it's so sexy**  
**She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day**

(Cody hugged Alex and then started to dance his way back to the stage.)

**Oh, you know, you know, you know, I'd never ask you to change**  
**If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same**  
**So, don't even bother asking if you look ok**  
**You know I'll say**

**When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change**  
**Cause you're amazing, just the way you are**  
**And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while**  
**Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are**  
**The way you are, the way you are**  
**Girl you're amazing, just the way you are**

**When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change**  
**Cause you're amazing, just the way you are**  
**And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while**  
**Cause girl you're amazing, just the way you are. Yeah**

(Cody was back on stage and was bowing after winking at Alex and smiling at her, causing Alex to smile and blush.)

Everyone soon broke out into cheers after Cody's performance was over and even gushed over how cute it was that he had sung that song just for his girlfriend. Once Cody got back to Alex, he saw that she was smiling at him and clapping.

"That was so amazing Cody. I never knew you could sing like that," Alex said.

"I never really like to sing that much, so I figured since I'm dating the girl of my dreams, I'd give her a little treat," Cody said, cupping the side of Alex's face with his hand.

"I really appreciate this Cody. I'm glad that we're having this date right now," Alex said, leaning into his hand.

They soon got their food and after eating, they left to head back to Alex's house so that Cody could drop her off. They pulled up and Cody went to help Alex out of his car and up to the door.

"I had lots of fun tonight Cody. We should do this again sometime soon," Alex said, smiling and blushing.

"I had fun too. I know this sounds crazy to say, but it feels like fate pushed us together. And now here we are, fresh off the heels of our first date," Cody said, smiling and blushing as well.

"I guess we'd better head inside now. The others are probably waiting for us," Alex said, unaware of the fact that their friends were watching them.

Cody had noticed and before Alex had wheeled herself inside, he stopped her. "Wait Alex. I have an idea for something I've wanted to do at the end of my first date."

Before Alex could ask what, Cody planted a kiss on her lips, which seemed to be added onto as time went by. Alex didn't want to break contact with Cody so she reached up and wound her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her. Cody moved to sit on her lap and soon the two seemed to be dueling with their tongues to try to gain entry into each others' mouths, which both teens granted to each other. Their kiss got deepened when Cody ran his hands through Alex's hair before fisting two handfuls. Alex used one of her hands to pull Cody closer to her while the other hand ran down Cody's back. It seemed like they were kissing for a long time, so when they both finally pulled away, their faces were flushed and they were both gasping for air. At first it seemed like neither of the two could say anything until Alex said something.

"Wow. That was amazing," Alex said.

"It was. And that was completely unexpected. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Cody was stopped by Alex putting a finger on his lips.

"Don't be sorry. I enjoyed the kiss. Every bit of it. Now let's head inside. The others are probably going crazy waiting for us," Alex said as she opened the door.

"Guys, Alex and Cody are coming in! Quick! Look nonchalant!" Jeff said, as he and the others ran to the living room to fake playing the Wii.

"I'm home guys," Alex said as she and Cody came inside.

"Welcome back you two. Did you kids have fun?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. We had lots of fun. We might do something like this again," Alex said, holding Cody's hand and giving his fingers a light squeeze.

The girls were giggling and grinning at Alex, while the guys were smiling and high-fiving each other while Jeff, Matt, and Dustin had a moment of their own.

"Brother!" the trio shouted as they embraced in an overly dramatic man-hug.

"Very funny you guys," Cody said, laughing.

"Those jokers mean well and you two know it. We're all just happy that you two had so much fun with each other tonight," Candice said smiling.

"Thanks you guys. I don't think this would've happened without you all pushing us together. Now I think me, Ted, and Dustin should be leaving now. I'll see you later Alex," Cody said, giving Alex a hug and kiss good night.

"OK. I'll see you later too, Cody," Alex said, returning his hug and kiss.

Ted, Cody, and Dustin soon left, along with the others following suit, telling Alex, Matt, Jeff, Amy, and Maria good night and that they would see them all later. They also remembered to congratulate Alex on her date. As Candice was headed for her car, she suddenly had a swell of pride and joy. 'Alex looked so happy tonight. And it was because of me and the others helping her. I'm definitely glad that my family moved here now. I don't think I've ever had friends as good as the ones I have now," Candice thought smiling as she drove home.

**Read and review. Alex and Cody's date was a huge success. Now all they have to do is go to school and make it through their days until the talent show. Will things go smoothly or will the freaks hit some bumps? Stay tuned for chapter 17. =)**


	17. What the Hell Just Happened?

**I know it's taken me a while to update this, but in between writing one-shots and studying for my finals, I've been really busy. So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. =)**

After the success of Alex's date Saturday, the rest of the weekend seemed to fly by in a flash. Monday came around and the freaks met up outside of the school building. The talk of the school seemed to revolve around the fact that Alex was now dating Cody and everyone seemed equally shocked about it. No one was more shocked about this news than the popular kids.

"I can't believe the little freak has a boyfriend now. Even after all the work that Kelly went through to try and put her out of commission," Michelle said, slamming her locker door.

"I guess maybe there are people aside from those crazy friends and brothers of Alex's that actually like her," Layla said.

"Do you think that makes me feel any better? Especially since she's in the talent show now. There's actually a really good chance that she could win it too," Michelle said.

"What does it matter if she wins? You and I both know that there is no way that something like that will ever happen, so why let it get to you?" Layla asked.

"Because…because…" Michelle trailed off.

"Because what, Chelle?" Layla asked.

"Because, believe it or not, I'm actually a little jealous of her," Michelle said.

"What? How in the name of forty hells could you be jealous of Alex?" Layla asked, curiosity and confusion etching her face.

"I just am. I know people think that I'm one of the best people in this school just because I'm hot, but honestly, I wish I could turn back time to when I was friends with Alex and the other freaks in elementary school and stop myself from turning into such a bitch in middle school," Michelle said, hanging her head.

"Chelle, do you really mean half of what you just said?" Layla asked.

"To be honest with you Lay, I kinda do. I mean, you look at someone like me, who's surrounded by other people who seem to get off on torturing the other students here that don't seem to live up to our standards. And then you have someone like Alex, who, despite getting the Leatherface treatment from us, is surrounded by friends of her own that love her for who she is," Michelle said.

"That's because we've already established that everyone in that little cluster of freaks must have some kind of mental illness or must be retarded in some way. You really shouldn't let that little creep get to you. Next thing you know, you're going to be wanting to be a part of their circle," Layla said.

"I don't know Lay. Maybe I do and maybe I don't. All I know is that she's really starting to get under my skin," Michelle said, turning and walking away.

Layla was left behind to think back over everything that Michelle had just told her.

'I can't believe this. Michelle's actually jealous of that little creep. I don't get what's so special about her, but this is a damn promise from me: I'm going to figure out whatever the hell it is,' Layla thought.

* * *

After third period was over, Melina and John had already left for the cafeteria, leaving Candice and Alex behind by themselves.

"I can't believe how fast Melina and John were in a rush to get out of here," Candice said, leaving the gym.

"I think they were only in a hurry to leave because of the fact that today is pizza day," Alex said.

"I thought they usually just picked at their lunches," Candice said.

"No, not the John and Melina I know. When they get to lunch and actually have time to eat everything they pay for, usually me and the others will have to share our lunches with them. It's happened more than once that I've actually gone through most of the day without anything in my stomach until Jeff gives me Skittles during sixth period," Alex said.

"That's something I've been meaning to ask you. How the hell is it that Jeff always seems to have Skittles with him?" Candice asked.

"The hell if I know. It's just as much of a mystery to you as it is to me and Matt. Even Maria has a hard time trying to figure out where he mysteriously pulls them from. Between you and me, I think he might be able to just brush his hair and Skittles just magically fall out," Alex said.

Laughing, Candice turned to look at Alex and said, "You actually think that Jeff can just brush his hair and make Skittles magically fall out?"

"It's possible. I mean, there has to be some reason that he always dyes his hair different colors," Alex said, shrugging.

"Who knows? That could be what it is," Candice said as she and Alex continued towards the cafeteria.

They were nearly inside when Alex saw someone quickly approaching them from out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head to get a better look, she saw that it was Layla. And Layla looked pissed off big time.

"Candice, I think we should head inside now," Alex said, worriedly.

"Why? What's the rush, Alex?" Candice asked.

"Well, look to our left and you'll see why," Alex said, looking pale.

Candice looked in the direction Alex told her to look in and saw that the person heading towards them. The two then decided to try to rush inside, but were stopped when Layla grabbed the handles of Alex's wheelchair and began pulling her backwards.

"Layla, take your hands off of Alex's wheelchair right now!" Candice shouted.

"Shut the fuck up! This has nothing to do with you!" Layla shouted.

"What did you just say?" Candice said, taking a step closer to Layla.

"You heard me. I said that this has nothing to do with you, so just shut the fuck up loser," Layla said.

"Like hell it doesn't. You're threatening one of my friends, right in front of me. Don't make me bust open your lip again," Candice said.

"Try it then. I dare you to," Layla said, stepping back and holding out both of her arms.

"Suit yourself," Candice said, as she struck out with a punch. But instead of hitting Layla, she missed, giving Layla the opportunity to push her, causing her to slid several feet away from where Alex was.

"Candice!" Alex screamed, unable to wheel herself to where her friend had slid to.

"Now it's just you and me alone," Layla said, putting a hand on each of the armrests of Alex's wheelchair.

Trembling and starting to cry, Alex said "OK. You've got me Layla. Just make whatever you're going to do to me quick."

"Oh, it's not really what I want to do to you. It's more what I have to ask you," Layla said.

"Wh-what do y-you mean?" Alex asked.

Grabbing Alex by the collar of her shirt, Layla lifted Alex out of her chair and, holding her close to her face, asked, "What the fuck is your deal?"

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.

"You heard me! What the fuck is about you that's so damn special that Michelle's having second thoughts about having ever dumped you and the rest of those losers back in middle school?" Layla asked.

"I don't know. M-maybe it's because after years of having to be tortured by you guys, I'm f-finally taking a stand for myself," Alex said.

Throwing her down on the floor, Layla stood over her and, raising one of her feet, said "We'll just see if you'll be able to stand again after I'm through with you."

Looking up from where she was, Candice saw Layla, standing over Alex with one of her feet raised over her leg that was broken. Thinking fast, Candice leapt to her feet and ran forward, tackling Layla before she could hurt Alex's leg any worse. Candice had raised one of her fists to punch Layla, but was stopped by Alex grabbing her arm.

"Alex, what the hell?" Candice asked, turning back to look at Alex.

"Don't do it Candice. She's not worth it. I know she may have tried to hurt me, but I don't want you to get in trouble because you got into a fight with her," Alex said.

Candice hesitated for a moment, but after seeing the pleading look in Alex's eyes, she decided not to hit Layla. Looking down at Layla, she said "You got lucky bitch. Thank your lucky stars that Alex was here to stop me because if she wasn't, I would've kicked your ass until the end of the year."

She got off top of Layla and helped Alex back into her wheelchair before the two headed inside the cafeteria. Before they did, they heard what sounded like Layla crying. Turning their heads, they saw that she was still on the floor, only now she had started crying.

"What now? What the hell's wrong with you?" Candice asked.

"That little creep behind you. It's all because of her that Michelle's been thinking of leaving me and the rest of her friends. What the hell makes her so damn special that Michelle wants to stop being my friend?" Layla said, through her tears.

"Did you ever stop and think that maybe it's because you guys all act like a pack of douches and maybe she's just getting sick of having to hurt people constantly?" Candice asked.

"No, but why should I? She's never made any objections to what we do, so why should it matter?" Layla asked.

"Maybe, since she's been a freak before, she sympathizes with us whenever she has to put us down," Alex said.

"Whatever. Just go away," Layla said, turning away from Alex and Candice.

Sharing a glance, Alex and Candice headed towards the cafeteria, but decided to turn around and head to the library for their lunch period.

"Alex, do you mind trying to break down what the hell just happened?" Candice asked.

"I don't even know myself. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Layla said that Michelle is jealous of me. Do you think she was being truthful?" Alex asked.

"Who knows? This is one of the popular kids we're talking about. She could've just been telling some kind of lie to set us up for something bad later down the road," Candice said.

"Maybe, maybe not. Who even knows anymore?" Alex said, looking off into the distance.

Candice didn't even know what to make of everything that just happened. She didn't know whether to be confused about whether Layla had just said that Michelle was starting to feel guilty about everything she's done to the freaks or the fact that it seemed like Alex was actually going to take pity on Michelle and Layla. What she did know was that she had to talk to one of her friends about this and soon.

**I had another direction in mind for this chapter, but the idea I had in mind will be used in a later chapter. Read and review please. =)**


	18. Talk It Over

**I decided to make this chapter all about Punk and Candice bonding with each other. So just a little head's up, there's a bit of angst later in the chapter.**

For most of the rest of Candice's day, she had spent time thinking over everything that happened during their lunch period. She wasn't quite sure how to process the fact that it seemed like Michelle was starting to have feelings of pity for everything she's done to Alex or the fact that it seemed like Alex was going to willingly and quickly forgive her. She needed someone to talk to about everything going through her mind, but her fourth period had gone through without her making anything resembling a move to try talking to any of her friends in there. So for her free period, she had spent a good portion of it walking the halls, thinking over everything. While she had been thinking over things, she ran smack into Punk.

"Whoa there Candice. Your head in the clouds about something?" Punk asked jokingly.

"You could say that. It's just some crap that happened earlier in the day is all," Candice said, looking down at the floor.

"You wanna talk about it? I may not look it, but I'm a really good listener when it comes to stuff like this," Punk said.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you with my rambling. I'd probably bore you to death anyways," Candice said.

"Candice, you're talking to a guy that religiously watches the retro Doctor Who and who can sit through hours of NOVA without any hesitation. Nothing you could say can bore me," Punk said, laughing at his own jokes.

"Are you sure you want to hear me out?" Candice asked.

"Candice, if you ask me that question one more time, then I swear I'll leap on you right now and force you to tell me. Now if you wanna go through with it, I suggest you start soon, seeing as how we only have a few minutes before it's time for Art," Punk said, leading Candice to sit on a bench.

Taking a seat next to Punk, Candice took a breath and launched into her explanation.

"OK. This sounds stupid of me to say, but I know about the whole 'Us vs Them' thing that you guys have with Michelle and the popular kids. Well, when me and Alex were about to join you guys in the cafeteria, we got blindsided by Michelle's 'friend' Layla," Candice said, making the needed air quotes.

"Why the air quotes when you said 'Michelle's 'friend' Layla'? You say that like they aren't tight with each other," Punk asked.

"Well, here's where things get kinda hairy. I just remember Alex getting yanked away from me and when I tried to push Layla, she pushed me so hard I went sliding away from her and Alex," Candice said.

"So, does this lead into what you've been thinking about?" Punk said.

"Yeah. You see, before I knew it, I saw Layla lifting Alex out of her chair, yelling at her and asking her some crap about what was it that made her so special and was making her have doubts about her choice of friends. I couldn't seem to make sense of any of it, but the thing that really confuses me is that Alex seems to taking pity on her too. I mean, after all this, I'm having flashbacks to when I was back home in Milwaukee," Candice said, before clamping a hand over her mouth.

"What do you mean by when you were back home in your old home? Did something happen?" Punk asked, worried.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Candice said, looking away as tears started to fall down her face.

"It wouldn't be 'nothing' if you weren't crying. Now come on. I'm your friend Candice. You can talk to me about anything," Punk said.

Looking back at Punk and seeing the genuine warmth in his eyes, she took a breath and said "I never thought I'd ever be talking about this ever again, but since it'll help me get over it more, I'll tell you. Believe it or not Punk, back in Wisconsin, I had a friend just like Alex. Her name was Brooke and she always came off as kind of shy and awkward and gawky. She was one of my best friends in the whole world, but there were people that made it abundantly clear that they didn't really like her. I just kept telling her to ignore the haters and just go on with her head up. And she did. We went through all of elementary, middle, and freshman year together when it happened," Candice said, starting to look upset again.

"When what happened?" Punk asked, hesitant to press Candice for more information.

"Well, it all started about halfway through the year. We had just gotten through with some huge finals so we decided on the night of her birthday that we'd go out and have a girl's night. One of the popular guys at our school came up to her, asking her out on the night of her birthday. I kept telling her not to go, but she kept saying nothing would go wrong. I remember just being at home, lying in bed, texting her for updates on her date. Well, I got one in particular that scared me," Candice said.

"What did it say?" Punk said.

"It practically said that her 'date' tried to have sex with her, but when she kept trying to push him off of her, he kept trying to force himself on her. And just before it could happen, the door to the car they were in was ripped open and the next thing she knew, she had seen all of the popular kids there, laughing and pointing, calling her a slut and a whore. She got out and ran all the way to my house, just to tell me all of that. At that point, I was feeling so much anger and blind rage that I wanted to go and rip all of them apart. So I calmed her down and told her to try to forget it. But, the next day at school, everyone seemed to know about it so when anyone saw her, they would just point at her and laugh or just call her a slut, just like the popular kids. Well, it drove Brooke so far over the edge that she killed herself because of it just to get away from them all. No one seemed to have any remorse, so I was the only person from my old school that went to her memorial service and to her funeral. I lost it because I was pretty losing the best friend I ever had. So, when I told the cops of the town about what drove my friend to commit suicide, they said there was nothing they could do. And then, it started to happen that I was being teased too. But instead of taking it, I lashed out at my tormentors and I beat them all up, not just for me, but for Brooke too. I got kicked out of my school because of it and that's pretty much the reason why me and my family packed our things and moved here. That's why it seems like I'm so protective over Alex. I just don't want the same thing to happen to her that happened to Brooke," Candice said, crying as tears freely fell down her face.

Punk didn't know what to say, so he pulled Candice close to him as she buried her face into his shirt and cried after opening up about a rough patch she had to go through. Once Candice got the crying out of her system, she looked up at Punk and wiped her face clean.

"Thanks for hearing me out. I've kept that held in from so many people that it feels weird to have finally told another person about it," Candice said, hugging Punk.

"Hey, don't mention it. It's like I said, I may not look it, but I've been told that I'm a pretty good listener. Not to mention, I couldn't just leave the girl that I've been crushing on hanging. That'd make me possibly the world's biggest douche in the world," Punk said, returning the hug.

As the two pulled away from each other, they looked deeply into each others' eyes and, making sure no one was around, they both leaned in and kissed each other softly and slowly. They had only just decided to deepen their kiss when the bell rang signaling the end of fifth period. They broke their kiss to stare at each other as the two tried to catch their breath.

"So does this make us official now?" Candice asked, pressing her forehead to Punk's.

"Darling, we can be as official as you want to be," Punk said.

"Then, I now pronounce us two boyfriend and girlfriend," Candice said laughing.

"Sounds good to me. Now let's head to class. It wouldn't be nice to leave Alex and the others hanging for the period," Punk said, taking Candice's hand and standing up.

Standing to walk beside her new boyfriend, Candice had felt as though a huge load had been lifted off of her shoulders. She never would've expected to be able to open up about the horrible thing that happened to Brooke to anyone aside from her parents, so she was feeling worlds better now. She also felt better to let Punk know about why it was that it seemed like she was being protective over Alex since the day they first met. Now all she wanted to do was just go have a good day in Art class with her friends.

* * *

"Can you believe what that Candice bitch did to me? I'm just so tempted to take her out right now and the little creep she's so hellbent on protecting," Layla said, frustrated.

"You know good and damn well that if you even think about laying a finger on Alex, the others in that little cluster will just leap on you before you can even blink," Kelly said.

"That's why I've been thinking of a deliciously evil idea that'll use the one thing those freaks love about school against them," Layla said, smirking.

"You're plotting and I'm loving the sounds of it. Please do tell," Kelly said, leaning in as Layla told her all about the idea she had stirring.


	19. Making Amends (Sort Of)

**Get ready for a major shocker as you read on. =)**

After Candice had talked to Punk about what had happened to her when she lived in Milwaukee, she was feeling a world better than she was earlier in the day. She and Punk went to Art class and spent the whole period talking and laughing with their friends in there. Once the bell had rang at the end of the day, the art classroom emptied out as students left the building to head home for the day. On her way out of the building, she happened to see that Michelle was talking to her boyfriend, Nick. Ducking around a corner to avoid being seen, she listened in on what they were talking about.

"Chelle, babe, what's wrong with you? You kept zoning out today when we were in Teen Living. And that rarely ever happens," Nick said.

"Nicky, it's nothing. Just some shit that's been on my mind lately," Michelle said.

"Do you feel like talking about it?" Nick asked.

"Not really. I've already talked to Layla about it and she wasn't exactly all that much of a help," Michelle said.

"Well, why do you look so sad all of a sudden?" Nick said. "Did she say something to hurt you?"

"No, that's not it at all," Michelle said.

"Well, what is it? Babe, you know you can tell me about it. I love you, Michelle, and no matter what's on your mind, I'll hear you out over it," Nick said, lifting Michelle's head so that she'd look him in the eye.

"OK, but you've gotta promise you won't act all crazy once I tell you," Michelle said, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Babe, I promise I won't freak or anything. Now please just tell me what's weighing your mind down and keeping you from acting like the Michelle I know and love," Nick said.

"Fine. OK, I'm sure you know about Alex and all of her friends, especially that new girl Candice, right?" Michelle asked.

"Ugh, how could I not know anything about those freaks? They seriously crease me so bad sometimes," Nick said as he cringed. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I want to go apologize to Alex for what we did to her. I mean, she's just such a small kid and we had no right sending Kelly after her to beat her up and break her leg like we did," Michelle said.

"And what, may I ask, caused you to suddenly want you to have a 180 in how you see them? I always thought you didn't like that twerp and her crazy friends and brothers," Nick said.

"It's just, I'm sick of this Nick, I'm sick of all this bullshit between us. I'm sick of always saying that I hate them when that is so not the truth at all, sick of always having to argue and fight with them over nothing. I just want to call for peace between us and them and just go about school normally every day," Michelle said. "And if you knew anything about who I was before middle school, you'd know that I used to be a freak too."

"What? Elaborate, because this is news to me," Nick said, in shock over what his girlfriend had just told him.

"Back in elementary school, I was new to the state and I just happened to be going to the same school that Alex and her friends and her brothers were going to. Well, needless to say, when I first started I was so scared and so shy because I was surrounded by hundreds of strangers. So, when I was walking around on the playground one day, I was approached by Alex and some of her other friends. They all made this huge show of introducing themselves and greeting me and they made me feel welcome at that very moment. I fell in with them all and they quickly became some of the best friends I ever had because I didn't have to do anything special to change anything about myself. So, when some of us graduated on to middle school, I was seen as being really athletic so I was approached by one of the coaches and I was asked to join the cheerleading squad. After I tried out and I joined, the other girls on the squad started to look down on the people that I'd come to know as my friends. So instead of doing the right thing and standing up for them, I took the side of Layla and the other cheerleaders and we teased them any chance we had. So, I had no clue that the girls were planning that attack on Alex that happened, but me being the passive dumbass I am, I helped them. And I've never been able to shake that day out of my head. You guys may have thought it was a good thing I did, but honestly I've never felt so low and so dirty before in my whole life. I mean, I go to bed and some nights everything that happened that day just comes flooding back, seeing Alex balled up trying to protect herself, her screaming, her crying. I've never been able to forgive myself no matter how many times I've tried and now I'm just feeling so damn awful about everything that's been going on since then," Michelle said, crying at this point.

"Babe, I know that you may have some regrets about what we did, but it had to be done. The little creep always walked around like she was queen of the world or something. All we did was just knock sense into her," Nick said, putting an arm around Michelle's shoulders.

"That still doesn't justify what we did! Her brother Jeff saw us, and if it wasn't for the fact that your dad's a cop, we'd all be in jail for attempted murder right now! Please, Nicky, I'm begging you. Just let me apologize to her and then I'll never say another word to her again," Michelle said.

After taking some time to process what Michelle had just said, Nick looked down at her and, after letting out a breath, he said "Fine. Just do it tomorrow in the cafeteria when everyone in both of our groups can see you guys. I wouldn't want her running the risk of running you over with that chair of hers."

"OK. Thanks so much baby," Michelle said, kissing Nick as the two walked out of the building.

Candice couldn't believe her ears. She had again heard something that'd completely changed the way that the others had perceived Michelle to be. After hearing that Michelle wanted to bury the hatchet with Alex, she could've turned and left right then, but after hearing Nick give Michelle the go-ahead to apologize, she started to have a feeling that they might have something planned to embarrass Alex or hurt her again. So, turning on her heel, she sped out of the building, jumped in her car, and sped home. Once she got home, she ran inside, sped up the stairs and ran to her room. She just wanted to be alone to think over everything that'd been happening to her and Alex.

...

"So, is everything in place for the creep tomorrow?" Kelly asked Layla after the two left the empty cafeteria.

"Yep. Once the little worm comes in tomorrow, she's going to be so humiliated," Layla said, grinning evilly.

"I don't know if I've ever told you this Lay, but you are so evil," Kelly said.

"Well, thank you. I've been told that I could get away with robbery if I wanted to," Layla said, as the two left the school building.

* * *

The next day, Candice couldn't help but want to tell everyone about what she had heard on her way out of the school building. She was so torn between letting everyone know about what Michelle wanted to do to Alex, but at the same time, she didn't want to unintentionally start any drama between the two groups that could add to the inferno that already flamed, so she kept it all inside. However, all of her friends happened to notice that she wasn't being her usual self, so during first period, some of the freaks in class with her decided to try talking to her.

"Hey Candice, are you feeling OK? You've been looking mighty down about something all day," Kaitlyn said.

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about something," Candice said, distractedly.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Melina asked.

"I don't really know if I should. I mean, I heard something yesterday I don't think I should've heard," Candice said.

"Well, if it's tearing you up inside, that's a sign that you should talk about it. We're all ears if you want to talk about it," Melina said.

Looking at all of her friends, especially Alex, Candice took a breath and launched into telling them what she had heard Michelle tell Nick yesterday afternoon. After she finished, she looked around at all of her friends to see that they were all in shock.

"That bitch actually said that?" Melina said.

"Yes, Mel. But the thing is, I'm not sure if they knew I was there watching them or if she's being genuinely serious. All I know is that I've been freaking for Alex's sake, especially seeing as how she can't really move much until she's out of her chair," Candice said.

"Umm, Candice, if I can say something, I'm not scared of Michelle as much I used to be. I know her and I just have a feeling that if she really wanted to say sorry, she wouldn't try anything funny. And you said she was going to arrange for it to happen during lunch, right? You guys'll be in there to keep on check on us to make sure she doesn't try anything funny," Alex said.

After taking in what Alex had just told her, Candice started to feel a little bit at ease over this whole situation, but she still kept her guard up for most of the day. She especially didn't feel at ease when she walked into English and she and Melina saw Michelle and Layla talking to each other. 'So much for me thinking she'd want to turn over a new leaf,' Candice thought as she sat down. Once she left English, she was feeling better to just leave the same room Michelle was in and get to Aerobics to blow off some steam. However, when Ms. Saeed called over to Alex and told her that she had to report to the front office, Candice's heart dropped.

"Um, Ms. Saeed? Why does Alex have to go the office?" Candice asked.

"Her dad brought her something that she needs for one of her other classes. I told her that she could leave, seeing as how we only have a few minutes left before this period's over," Ms. Saeed said before blowing her whistle, signaling the end of class.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Candice turned and headed to the locker room to get changed and meet up with JoMo and Melina when she checked her phone and found that she had gotten a text from Alex saying that she could head on to the cafeteria with Melina and JoMo. Candice was going to send her a text back saying that she'd wait, but trusting Alex to be able to call for help if things went wrong, she went out and left to go to the cafeteria. She, Melina, and JoMo were three of the last ones there, so it was no surprise that the others were asking where Alex was, until she explained that Alex got called to the office to pick up something that was dropped off for her. The others were about to start guessing at what it was until one by one, everyone saw Alex coming into the cafeteria, only to be held off by Michelle.

"What the hell's Michelle doing to Alex over there?" Amy said, starting to stand up from her seat.

"She's doing something I know you guys would never believe possible. She's going to try apologizing for being such a bitch to her," Candice said.

"How do you know this? You got hearing like a vampire or something?" Maria asked.

"No. I may have heard her tell her boyfriend that she wanted to apologize to Alex for everything that she's done to her. Just let her apologize and if it starts to look like things are gonna go downhill, we'll go over there and yank Alex away from her," Candice said, as she and the others turned to keep an eye on what was going on.

...

"Alex, can I have a moment with you?" Michelle asked, the minute she saw Alex wheel herself inside.

Looking skeptical, Alex said "Um, I guess. What is it?"

"I just wanted to apologize to you. I've been feeling so bad about everything that I've done to you and I want to try to smooth things out with you," Michelle said.

In shock over what Michelle was saying, Alex looked up at Michelle and said "To be honest with you, you really scared me when you and your friends attacked me all those years ago. I even got a little scared when I got jumped by Kelly. But my daddy always told me to never hold things against people, so I'll accept your apology."

Hearing Alex say this, Michelle started to tear up and, not caring that they were in a crowded place, she bent down to Alex's level and hugged her. Both of their own collective groups of friends were staring in shock over what was happening, so when Michelle pulled away from Alex and walked back to her friends, Alex just sat in place in shock over what Michelle just did.

"It's a good thing that you've got her frozen there," Layla said, as Michelle took her seat next to her.

"Why do you say that?" Michelle asked.

"Because of the little present we're going to give her. Just watch," Layla said as she nodded at Kelly to pull a rope she was holding. As soon as Kelly pulled the rope, Michelle, as well as the other freaks, watched on in horror as a bunch of buckets of paint were all dumped on Alex, coating her in green, blue, red, purple, white, black, and various other colors. Alex sat in shock and started to tremble as popular kids and freaks rushed to her, with the freaks getting to her first.

"Oh my god Alex! Who did this to you?" Matt and Jeff asked at the same time.

"Who in their right mind would do this to somebody?" Maria asked.

One by one, the freaks turned their heads to a table of laughing popular kids and a shocked Michelle, as well as a cafeteria full of laughing students. Amy, Mickie, Melina, and Ashley were all seeing red and were prepared to go over to the popular kids' table when Alex's trembling turned out to be due to the fact that she was laughing.

Out of confusion, her friends all looked at her until AJ ventured to ask "Alex why are you laughing so much? You're covered from head to toe in paint."

"I know that, but don't you guys see? I look like an explosion of art," Alex said laughing.

When the group took a step back to take a good look at her, they all started to laugh when they saw what she meant.

"I'm jealous, Lexi. I wanna be colorful now!" Maria said, pouting and stomping her foot.

"Well, come give me a hug, Ria, and I'll give you some color," Alex said, holding her arms out.

"I want in on this too," Jeff said, as some of the others decided to get in on the odd group hug that was going on. Cody even leaned in and pecked Alex on her forehead, getting pink and purple paint on his face in the process.

Watching on at what was happening, Layla was beyond confused.

"I don't get it. She was supposed to be humiliated, not at the center of a clusterfuckish hug like that," Layla said frustrated.

"You seem to be forgetting that she seemingly always has a lot of colors on, Lay. That could be why your plan flopped as epically as it did," Michelle said.

"Whatever. I spent too much time on that one plan and now I've got nothing else," Layla said, putting her head down.

Looking over at the freaks, who now had paint covering them in some way, Michelle started to smile as she thought about times like that she used to have. She was about to turn away until she heard Candice calling over to her and her friends.

"Hey Michelle, Layla," Candice said.

"What is it?" Michelle asked.

"We just wanted to say thanks for the pretty gift. So we feel it's only fair to give you guys hugs for letting us be so colorful," Candice said, as she and the others walked over to the popular kids.

Not liking the prospect of getting covered in paint, Layla and everyone else, aside from Michelle all got up and ran out. Looking after her friends, Michelle sighed and shook her head.

Making her way to Michelle first, Alex asked "Why didn't you go out with your friends? Do you really want to be covered in paint?"

"In all honesty, yes. And if they ask why I'm covered, I'll just say that one of you guys got me from behind," Michelle said, holding her arms open to Alex.

At this gesture, Alex leapt out of her chair and hugged Michelle, making sure to get as much paint on her as possible.

"Chelley, I wish you could be friends with all of us again. I never really got to be close friends with you before you did a personality 180 on us," Alex said, looking up at Michelle.

"Maybe there'll be a way for us to be friends in the future. But the only way that'll ever be able to happen is if I sever my ties with Layla and the others and get forgiveness from the others," Michelle said, looking back at the others.

After everyone in the group all shared a look, one by one they all said they forgave her, which made Alex feel happier.

"Thanks you guys. I guess I should head back to Lay and the others. I just want them to hear me out, and if they kick me out of their group, at least I know that I've always got friends to fall back on," Michelle said.

"Wait, Michelle. Don't leave just yet," Candice said.

"Huh? Why not?" Michelle asked.

"Well, we're probably never gonna be like this ever again, so why don't we take a group picture?" Candice said, which was immediately met with a chorus of approval. After getting one of the other students around them to hold up her phone at a far enough range to get everyone in the shot. Once the picture was taken, they all took a look at it and laughed at how silly they all looked while at the same time talking about how cool it'd be to actually experiment with using something like this as an art technique. Candice couldn't help but step back and think to herself that she had made a pretty awesome group of friends. She knew that, yes, they were all crazy, but she wouldn't want them to be any other way.


	20. A Bridge We're Building

After the paint dropping incident that happened during lunch, the freaks and Michelle decided to go their separate ways after hanging back to help with cleaning the mess that Layla and the other popular kids had made. It made Candice feel better that Michelle had found it in her to apologize for everything that she and the other popular kids had been doing to torment her and the other freaks, but at the same time, she was feeling upset because it seemed like Michelle was having an internal struggle on whether or not she wanted to let the other popular kids know what she did. While Candice was sitting in the library with Punk, the two decided to talk about what had happened.

"I'm just still finding it all hard to process that Michelle was actually being nice to us. I guess she really must be trying to turn over a new leaf," Punk said.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. But then again, I kinda had a feeling that this may have been coming for some time now," Candice said.

"What makes you say that?" Punk asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, my line of reasoning may be wrong, but I always just felt this vibe coming off of her whenever I was around her. Like, it almost seemed like she was jealous of the fact that you guys are all just content being yourselves and the fact that I chose to be friends with you all instead of her and the popular kids. Not to mention, I would always see what looked like her trying to steal glances at us whenever we were having fun and we were wrapped up in a talk about whatever we'd talk about. I almost had half a mind to wave her over to join us, but then again, I was thinking that she'd just use that as a reason to come flaunt her ego around us, so I just left her to her friends," Candice said, sighing.

"Interesting way of putting it. I always just assumed that once she changed in middle school that she had forever turned her back on us all. I guess there was just something about seeing us all in a good mood all the time made her want to be friends with us again," Punk said, shrugging.

"Whatever the reason, I'm just glad that she's at least trying to make up with you guys," Candice said.

"Don't forget to mention yourself. After all, you're a part of our group. Not to mention, you've been doing your fair share of standing up to Michelle," Punk said, winking at Candice.

"I guess you could say it like that. I just wanted to make it known that I wasn't going to let her and the popular kids walk all over me. Especially after what I told you happened to me back in Milwaukee," Candice said, blushing.

"And that's something that I, as well as the others, have been admiring about you since the first day we met you. Just the fact that you singlehandedly did in one day what we've been doing for years earned you respect points in all of our books," Punk said.

"Thanks for saying that. I just wish I didn't have to see Alex's breakdown after Michelle said what she had said. I know she made up for it, but it still makes me upset when I think back to when she said it though," Candice said.

"I get what you mean, but look at things this way. If you hadn't said what you did to the popular kids, then Alex would probably still be the way she was before you did everything you did to help open her up. Not to mention, she'd forever be pining after Cody," Punk said.

Giggling, Candice said "I guess you're right. And I probably wouldn't be enjoying being surrounded by awesome friends and I probably wouldn't have such an awesome boyfriend."

"Way to make me sound like Prince Charming, Candice," Punk said, pulling Candice in for a hug.

Leaning in, Candice smiled and said "You're not Prince Charming. You're more like the Dark Knight."

Soon, the bell rang and the two left to head for Art class. When Candice, Punk, and the other freaks in their class came in, the eyes of every student and even Mr. Foley were on the group of paint-coated students.

"I'm a bit confused here. Was there some kind of new clothing style that erupted over the course of a few hours?" Mr. Foley asked, chuckling.

"It's a bit of a long story Mr. F, but to say the least you could say that a prank by some of the other students didn't go according to their plans on account of the fact that we enjoyed it," Jeff said.

"Sounds interesting. Maybe you could tell me about it sometime Jeff," Mr. Foley said.

"Sure thing, Mr. F," Jeff said, smiling.

The rest of the class was spent by a mix of working on projects and talking about other things. One topic that came up was talk of how much longer Alex was going to be in her wheelchair.

"Really? You only have to be in your chair for a few more days?" Candice asked.

"Yep. The doctor called us yesterday and he said I could come in to get it taken off on Saturday," Alex said.

"That's good news. Now you won't have to worry about being the shortest person in our group anymore," Kaitlyn said, jokingly.

"Yeah. I just hope the doctor will let me keep the cast as a battle trophy. It'd be cool just to have it in my room so that I can check out all of the signatures and get a good look at all of this paint," Alex said smiling.

The group's chat had gone on the length of the period, so they were a bit surprised when the bell suddenly started to ring. Once everyone got up and left the building, Candice got in her car and drove home. When she arrived at home and walked through the door, her parents and her younger brother and sister were surprised to see her with paint all over her.

"Candice, honey. What happened to you today? Why are you all covered in paint?" Mrs. Beckman asked.

"It's a bit of a long story, mom. But to give you a Cliff Notes version of it, some of the popular kids thought dumping paint on Alex would make her upset, but when the opposite happened, they got upset. So after me and the others got excited over seeing Alex coated in paint, we put her at the center of a group hug and that's how I got paint on me," Candice said, smiling and rubbing the back of her head.

"That's good to know that your friend didn't get upset about it. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you really bonded with Alexis and her friends," Mrs. Beckman said.

"Yeah. I think it's actually the thing that's really helped me get closer to Alex is the fact that she reminds me a lot of Brooke. Plus, she's a really nice girl once you get to know her, even if she may not look a nice person to mostly everyone else," Candice said.

"Maybe you can invite her over here one day so that we can meet her," Mrs. Beckman said.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Now, if you all will excuse me, I'm going to go take a shower and try to get this paint off of me," Candice said, heading upstairs.

As she headed upstairs, she heard Kassidy say "Candi looks like a bag of Skittles," which caused her mom, her dad, and Ryan to laugh.

Laughing at what her sister had said, Candice went to her room and got a change of clothes before taking a shower and scrubbing the dried-up paint off of her arms and legs. Once she got out, she dried off and got dressed to head back downstairs. She played with Ryan and Kassidy for a while and, once everyone ate dinner, Candice headed up to her room. She decided to check her phone to see if she had any texts, so she was surprised to see that she had gotten one from Michelle.

_'I tried to talk things over about what had happened earlier today. They did not take things well. =('_

Reading over it, Candice started to feel a bit upset.

_'That's not very cool of them. Did you let them know about how you had been feeling about torturing me, Alex, and the others?'_

_ 'They listened to me, but the minute I tried to talk about building a bridge between our groups, they just started fuming and got super mad.'_

_ 'Can't they see what having to act like such a raging hormonal bitch is doing to you? They should at least let you explain yourself.'_

_ 'I've tried to reason out why it is that I want to do this, but apparently, they seem to have this idea in their minds that it's forbidden for us to want to be friends.'_

_ 'Well, I'll tell you this, Michelle. Since you seem to be the head of the popular kids, let them know about what you want to do. If they don't agree to your plans after you make that known, then just know you've always got me, Alex, and the other freaks to come back to. ;)'_

_ 'Thanks for talking to me about this, Candice. I can see why it is now that Alex and the others like you so much. You're so awesome to talk to about stuff like this. I'll hopefully get to catch you at school tomorrow. =)'_

After reading the last text she got from Michelle, Candice closed her phone and put it on her bedside table before she rolled over on her bed. Before she fully fell asleep, Candice couldn't help but think that something bad might happen at school the next day. But before she could think about it anymore, she fell asleep.

**I'm glad I got to work on this today, so with my luck, I'll probably get to work on another chapter for it. =) Don't forget to R & R please.**


	21. I've Made My Decision

The next day at school seemed to be one of the most tense days that Candice ever had to go through. There was nothing immediately wrong with the day had started aside from the fact that a large majority of the school was leery of her and the rest of the freaks, as well as the popular kids.

"Guys, do you ever get the unnerving feeling that you are being watched?" Candice asked, while she and the others waited for the bell to ring to start class.

"It's not just some unnerving feeling, Candi. People really are staring at us and watching us," Maria stated matter-of-factly.

"Why would everyone be doing that? It's not like we've done anything wrong," Candice said.

"Earth to Candice. Do any of the events that happened yesterday seem to ring any bells?" Amy asked.

"By 'any of the events that happened yesterday', do you mean what happened with us, all of that paint, and Michelle warming up to us?" Candice asked.

"Exactly. Me and Matt were listening around at what some of the other kids here already were talking about and the minute they saw the two of us, along with Jeff, Ria, and Alex, their conversations stopped and then they just started to whisper about what went down between all of us yesterday," Amy said.

"That's a bit weird. You'd think people find it weird that Michelle actually has something resembling a heart underneath all of that bitchiness that she always lays on everyone," Candice said.

"It's just because of the fact that for the longest time people have gotten used to her being so anal about mostly everything in her environment. So actually seeing her doing something in the way of being nice to her polar opposites is a bit of a shocker to everyone," Trish said.

"I still think it's weird that everyone seems to be giving us the evil eye because of it. I mean, Michelle really isn't as bad as she initially made me think she was," Candice said, shrugging.

"Maybe it's just one of those things people will have to get used to. Like, when you first started going here and you stood up to Michelle and her friends," Amy said.

"I guess so. But that doesn't mean that I still don't like this one bit," Candice said, resting her head on her hand.

…

"I can't believe that idea Michelle had last night when she texted me. 'Let's smooth things over with the freaks.' Just the very idea of doing that makes me want to vomit," Layla said, sneering.

"Her head just isn't screwed on right at the moment. She really can't think that they'll just take her back, especially after what she had done to Alex," Kelly said.

"Even so, what if she does?" Layla asked. "We'll be without one of the only people that'd help keep this school in line."

"That's why there's still the rest of us. I mean, you can't be forgetting who it was that even invited her to join our group back in middle school, are you?" Kelly asked.

Letting what Kelly just said sink in, Layla said "You're right Kelly. So what if Michelle does end up doing something stupid? If she ends up without anyone to lean on, then that's her loss. Because if she even thinks about trying to do something like getting us to make friends with those freaks, then she's out of our group."

"Sounds like a good enough idea to me. But what do you think Nick will say when he finds out about Michelle's plans?" Kelly asked.

"Considering the fact that Michelle told him last night and gauging his reaction when he called me later that night, he isn't too thrilled about Michelle wanting to go through with this either," Layla said.

"And we're just going to stand by and let her try to do this?" Kelly asked.

"Nothing we do can get through to her, so I just say if she leaves our group, then oh fucking well," Layla said, shrugging.

…

The day seemed to be one of the most awkward day any of the freaks and popular kids had to go through. Whether it was due to kids talking about them or pointing at them whenever they were seen in the halls, everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing: Was there any truth to the rumors that were floating around the school? All during Mr. Adamle's class, students weren't whispering as much as they were in first period, but there was still discussion during the students, especially when everyone took notice of the fact that Michelle wasn't sitting near Layla like she always was.

"I guess maybe there was some truth in Michelle's words, after all," Melina said, pointing at Michelle and Layla.

"That's what I was trying to tell you guys earlier this morning. Michelle probably does want to change herself, it's just that not everyone wants to be okay with that possibility," Candice said.

The rest of second period passed in a blur and the same seemed to happen with third period. However, when it was time for everyone to go to lunch, most of the lunchroom was quiet aside from a few whispered conversations.

"This is even worse than this morning was. I'm getting really pissed at all of this talking about us," Candice said, feeling irritated.

"Just don't let it get to you, Candice," Punk said, trying to calm Candice down.

"Well, it is Punk. All of this gossiping about us is really making my stress levels shoot up," Candice said, rubbing her forehead.

"Pay it no mind. Everyone else is just trying to get a rise out of all of this drama going on between us and the popular kids. In my opinion, you should just ignore what everyone is saying and doing," Alex piped up, much to Candice's surprise.

"Umm, Alex, that's pretty much an impossibility since it seems like most of the student population is talking about everything that's been going on between us and Michelle's 'friends'. How the hell do you expect me to just ignore something like that?" Candice snapped.

"The same way that me and the others have, by just blocking out everyone and saying 'Fuck you' to everyone that questions us about what we've done," Alex said in retaliation.

"Yeah, well, sometimes that isn't exactly the best thing in the world to do. You can't always just ignore whatever's a nagging issue for you," Candice stated bluntly.

"I'm well aware of that, especially when it seems like some of those problems are ones that stick with you forever. And trust and believe when I say that I'm well aware of problems like that," Alex said, motioning to the various scars and burns on her face.

"Then why do you think telling me to ignore everyone around is going to help?" Candice asked.

"Because I'm positive it will. Life is just way too short to have to keep worrying about what it is that others have to say when they make an opinion about you and the things that you've been doing," Alex said, before returning her attention to the book she was reading.

Taken back by what Alex just told her, Candice took some time to think over what she was just told. She took time to mull over everything that she had just been told while she tried to formulate a response. Before she could say anything, her attention was ripped away by the sounds of an argument going on.

…

Michelle entered the lunchroom to the same treatment that she had been getting all day from her schoolmates. She didn't let this get to her and instead made her way over to where Layla and the other popular kids were sitting. When Layla say Michelle walking over to them, she immediately let her attention go towards one of the people she had come to see as a best friend.

"Well, looks like you finally decided to come see us. I take it that you've come to tell us your final decision," Layla said.

"Lay, I still don't get why things have to be like this between us and the freaks. They really are just awesome people if you look past the fact that they don't really seem to act like normal people," Michelle said.

"Look, we all have our own reasons as to why we can never want anything to do with them. In case you haven't noticed Chelle, one of them happens to be possibly the biggest basket case in this whole state," Layla snapped.

"Don't say anything like that about Alex again," Michelle said, her voice going cold.

"Why the hell does it matter what we say about them or not? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you actually want to go back to being one of them," Layla said.

"Well, maybe I do. I mean, after all, they've been better friends and nicer people than you guys try to make it seem like you all are," Michelle said, angrily.

"I should've known that something like this would happen. After all, you never really have been the group leader that we've needed you to be. And now, you just want to go back to being on the lowest rungs of the ladder after being with us for so many years now," Layla spat.

"I just don't get why the hell it is that we can't all just be friends with each other. I mean, at some point, before being the popular kid even mattered, you guys were all friends. So why the hell do we all have to act like there's some kind of unspoken mutual hatred between all of us?" Michelle asked.

"Because that's the way things are. They've always been this way and nothing that any of us can do will ever change things," Layla said.

"Then why don't we just try to start now by making amends with them? I'm so tired of always being such a bitch whenever we're even within talking distance of them," Michelle said, reaching her breaking point.

"Not going to happen. End of story," Layla stated bluntly.

"So now Michelle, you have a choice to make. Either you stay being a popular kid with us or you can go back to being one of the mental institution escapees," Kelly said, on Layla's behalf.

Standing her ground over what she had just been told, Michelle looked all of the other popular kids in the eye, trying to find someone to come to her defense. But when no one, not even Nick would say something in defense of her, Michelle said "Fine. Since things have to be like this, I think I'll go back to my _real_ friends instead of the fakes sitting in front of me. And Nick, take this as a sign that we're over," before she turned on her heel and started to make her way towards where Candice and the others were sitting.

"Fine. Go back to those losers! We never really thought you would amount to much as one of us anyways!" Layla shouted, as the other popular kids cast numerous glares in Michelle's direction.

…

When Michelle finally made her way to the table the freaks were sitting at, she noticed that they were all having a group debate about The Walking Dead.

"Oh my god! How can you say that Lori did nothing for the show?" Amy asked.

"Anyone paying attention could tell that she had it bad for Rick and Shane. After all, she was one of the major liabilities to the group," Punk said.

"Yeah, until part of the way through season two when she really showed that she could hold her own as one of the group," Chris said.

"Then you get to some of the other people in the group that were pretty much anchors until close to the end of season two," Maria said.

"Name one of the characters that was like that, Ria," Candice said.

"Does the name 'Carl Grimes' ring any bells?" Michelle asked, laughing.

One by one, the freaks turned to see Michelle standing behind them.

"Umm, exactly how much of our debate did you hear?" Candice asked.

"Not much. Just all of it," Michelle said, smiling.

"I take it that things didn't go so well with your friends," Alex said.

"They're not the friends I thought they were if they can't seem to handle the fact that I wanted to patch things up with all of you. Plus, you should've seen how fast they just turned their backs on me," Michelle said, taking a seat at their table.

"They're all just a pack of assholes anyway. Do you want me to go run over them with my wheelchair?" Alex asked, with an innocent look on her face.

Hearing Alex ask this had Michelle and the others laughing at what she asked.

"No, Alex. You can't run over people just because they make your friends upset. That could get you thrown in jail," Jeff said, trying to hold in his laughter.

While Alex tried to defend her reasons why she would be able to get away with it, Candice tapped Michelle on the shoulder and got her attention.

"You feeling OK?" Candice asked.

"I suppose I am. I'm just thankful to finally be free of Layla and the others. At least now, I'll be able to work at making amends to everyone that I've hurt," Michelle said around a sigh.

"Just give it some time. People can't hold grudges forever. After all, like a good friend told me: Life's too short to have to constantly deal with what it is that other people constantly think about you," Candice said, smiling.

"Sounds like good advice. I just hope other people can be as forgiving as you and the others have been," Michelle said.


End file.
